Kill or be Killed
by vampassassin
Summary: When Alex finds himself on the run with 2 killers, he quickly realizes that the only way he's going to survive is to fight dirty. It'll take more then brute force to escape MI6's control once & for all. It's kill or be killed & Alex is determined to win..
1. Intro

**Introduction by Vampassassin**

First up: thankyou to everyone who decided to read this story! It's been floating around for awhile so I'm happy to finally start writing it. However, I need to make some points right away:

For those who have read my other Alex Rider story (Alex Rider Line of Humanity) I have this to say: I thought this story up around the same time as the other. It shares a Lot of the same points, but it is NOT related to my other one at all. Think of it as something similar but completely different at the same time.

You will only get new chapters if this is reviewed constantly. Yes that's evil, but it means my readers work a little. Also, reviews mean comments, opinion, suggestions and predictions. Every few chapters, I'll put in a readers response section. So review, you KNOW you want to see your comments online. I may even use some of your suggestions, who knows?

I want to say a special thanks to my friend Alex. Without her, my story would be a sub-quality piece of writing and this is bad because I LOVE Alex Rider and want this story to be right.

Anyway, thankyou again for reading my tribute to the Alex Rider series. I hope you enjoy the story. I must warn you though, I've rated it T for a reason. Those with delicate stomachs or minds may be slightly traumatised by the mix of action, thrill and humour. Don't say I didn't warn you!


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

London in the rain is a solemn place. No more so then the office that Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt occupied though. Neither were bothered by the rain pouring down the room's window. They were concerned by other matters. Mrs. Jones sucked on a peppermint; the habit was reflexive after many years of practise. It didn't inhibit her speech however;

"Alan, I have to say, this is a bad idea. _Surely_ you can see that?" She implored.

Alan Blunt, head of MI6 glanced at her.

"What makes you think that? It's not dangerous if that's what you mean. I considered all the possible outcomes, nothing threatening at all. Erin isn't a monster; she wouldn't harm someone her own age."

Mrs. Jones shook her head despairingly.

"That's your problem Alan, you only ever think of things in physical terms. There are other ways to be harmed, emotionally for instance. Besides, we know that Erin is unpredictable. We don't have any control over her, she's prone to recklessness."

Blunt grunted, he knew she was right.

"That's not what's really concerning you though is it?"

Mrs. Jones shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Blunt had a keen mind; it was usually a good thing. Not always though, it often meant she was forced to say things she'd otherwise keep to herself.

"No…it's not." She muttered. Then she sighed. "My real concern in the fact that we're putting her into school. Not just any school though, the same one that…"

"That Alex Rider attends? Yes I'm perfectly aware of that and I don't see how that's an issue. Besides, Alex will be out of school for awhile with his next mission anyway." Blunt cut her off. Mrs. Jones looked worried now.

"That's another thing I've been meaning to discuss with you. It's bad enough that we're bringing the boy in again, but this mission… considering what we know, it's the definition of foolishness!"

Blunt didn't react to her insistent tone.

"I wouldn't worry, there's every probability that we're wrong about this all and that Alex won't be exposed to the man." **A/N: the man they're referring to? You'll have to keep reading to find out!**

Mrs. Jones shook her head despairingly.

"I can see you won't change your mind about this, but let me tell you this: you put Alex and Erin together and there _will_ be trouble."


	3. New Girl

**Chapter One, New Girl**

Alex Rider sighed, he was bored. A solid year of school immediately following a year's action did that to you. All he'd ever wished for whilst he worked for MI6 was to go to school and be normal. Now, he was bored senseless and didn't know what he wanted. _'I guess it's a case of the grass is always greener…'_ he reflected. It was the first class of the day, maths, and as usual, the teacher's attention was taken up helping those he had problems with last night's homework. Alex glanced at his own homework, it'd been ridiculously easy, and he had no idea why it was causing so much trouble. Then it hit him, it wasn't hard, everyone just wanted to spend class goofing off. The easiest way to achieve this was by keeping the teacher to busy to start the new lesson. Suddenly, another distraction presented itself. A knock at the door had Mr. Gerald hastening over to the door. The principal walked in accompanied by a girl. Alex was the only one who noticed, everyone else was busy trying to appear studious.

"Mr. Gerald, this is the… ahem… _new_ student I told you to expect." The principal gestured to the girl. "This is Erin."

Alex focused in on Erin interestedly. She was average height, slim and had short, razor cut hair that was a dark blonde. She had the appearance of a dancer **A/N hahaha! Huge hint given away there! Sorry if u wanted to guess about her true identity, but I couldn't keep it in!** in that she was wiry, compact but obviously fit. Although she was obviously disinterested by both of the teachers before her, Erin's eyes flicked across the room. Alex could tell she was absorbing everything, nothing was escaping her notice. This in itself sparked his curiosity; he'd only ever seen that look on a particular type of person…

'_Don't go there' _Alex told himself fiercely,_ 'you're in school, have been for a year, nothing and no one has bothered you for the same amount of time. There's no need to get yourself suspicious.'_

It was too late though, Alex had already realized what Erin reminded him of: An MI6 agent, alert, yet relaxed. Fit like him, but not overly muscled. Alex told himself not to be ridiculous, the girl was fit and a little brighter then his classmates. That was no reason to jump to conclusions. Mr. Gerald spoke then.

"Ah, ok. Pleased to meet you Erin, I'm sure you are going to enjoy Brookland."

Alex listened to Erin's answer with interest.

"Mhm… I'm sure Brookland's great."

Sounding a little put off by her apparent disregard for his warm welcome, Mr. Gerald spoke distractedly.

"Why don't you take the desk there?" The man gestured to the empty spot in front of Alex. He watched as Erin sat down lightly, depositing her books in the desk neatly. He noticed that she didn't greet any of the students around her; she put her head down and started on the homework immediately. Curious about her behaviour, Alex decided to say something.

"Umm, hey…Erin was it?"

She turned around sharply, eyes calculating and speculative. "Yes."

He thought quickly for a reason to explain his calling her name. "You know, if you're new here, you don't have to do the work today. Mr. Gerald won't mind, you've got an excuse if it's your first day."

Erin smiled coolly.

"Actually, I like to keep busy. Thankyou anyway, Alex Rider."

Just then, the bell sounded for 1st break. Like the rest of the class, she was out the door immediately, pulling out a black mobile phone. Alex followed a little more slowly. It wasn't until a few moments later, once he was on the tarmac school yard, that he realized that Erin knew his name without being told. He looked around for her, wanting an explanation. She was nowhere to be seen.


	4. random AN

**Author's Notes on Chapter One**

Hello all! Welcome to the 1st instalment of my Author Notes. This will be a fairly regular occurrence, probably not every chappie, but regular none the same. I'll use these sections to comment on chappie's of my choosing. Here are my remarks on Chapter One:

I started off in school because that's where Alex really starts to get suspicious of Erin. I won't say what makes him so suspicious (you'll have to find out yourself and even then, I'll only update if you review) but let me tell you this: becoming suspicious of Erin gets Alex involved in the life he'd left behind a year ago (this story takes place when he's 15).

Also, I know that the description of Erin gave a lot away about her true identity, but it takes the characters a little longer to catch on. If you're a fan of a certain Russian (like me  ) you know what I mean by saying Erin's description makes things a tad obvious.

Coincidentally, in the summary, when I say: only those meant to be dead can save them

I do NOT mean zombies!!! If you want zombies, go read Shaun of the Dead Fics!!!!

Yes there will be romance in this story! I'm too big a fan of the mushy stuff to not include any!

Also, for all those attached to Mrs. Jones and Blunt (no offence if u do but…WHY?!) prepare to have your opinions of them altered a little!

Anyhow, that's the 1st instalment of Author's Notes over and done with. I'll include chapter two for free, but get reviewing if you want to see chapter three!


	5. Mistakes

**Chapter two, mistakes**

As soon as the bell rang, Erin shot out of the room. Hastily, she flipped her phone open and rang the only number on speed dial. She was answered almost immediately.

"Erin?"

She took a moment to control her emotions before answering.

"Yes it's me! You have a _lot_ of explaining to do Jones!" she snapped furiously. "You put me in the same school as Rider?!"

The MI6 deputy answered coldly. "I will tell you once and once only, calm yourself before speaking again, I don't appreciate the temper. Besides, what you mentioned shouldn't be an issue unless _you've_ caused a reason for it to be so."

Erin shut up at that, she had mistakes and she knew it. Mrs. Jones seemed to guess what Erin was thinking and answered accordingly.

"If you _have_ happened to make a mistake, then know this: under _no_ circumstances can Alex know that you are in contact with us until we are ready to bring him in; if he gets wind of what's going on, he may run."

Erin's mood darkened.

"Alright, I understand." She hung up and breathed out. Today was always going to be a long day, but things had just conspired to make it more so. Erin knew she'd made mistakes. Walking into the classroom acting nothing like a student was one, revealing she knew who Alex was without being told was another. One more and he would be onto her faster then she could react. Erin knew that as far as Alex Rider went, underestimating him was one step removed from suicide. Suddenly, she caught sight of him in the crowd of students. He was chatting to a couple of older kids, eyes constantly probing the mass of people while he conversed with them. Erin carefully slid around the side of the building; she decided to stay out his sight until she could think of an excuse for her mistakes. She smiled grimly as she re-entered the school building, as good as he was at what he did, she was better. He'd never noticed her in the crowd and he hadn't seen her escape. Still smiling, she rounded a corner, walking right into Alex. He started visibly when he saw it was her, Erin got the feeling he had meant to encounter her.

"Oh sorry! Didn't see you there!" he exclaimed brightly. Grunting in reply, she concentrated on his face, searching for any trace of suspicion. There was none.

'_Either he really didn't mean to bump into me or he's a good liar.' _Erin thought to herself.

"It's fine, I didn't see you either." She said kindly. Her nerves suddenly jumped as his eyes searched her curiously.

"Where are going? I can help you find where you need to go if you're lost." He said kindly. Erin shook her head, "No thankyou, I can find my own way."

Alex shrugged nonchalantly,

"Ok, see you around then."

He walked down the hall, back the way she had come. Breathing out in relief, Erin hurried forward. She had to pay a visit to the Front Office. Some records of hers needed editing.


	6. False Alarm

**Chapter Three, False Alarm**

Alex breathed out in relief. He'd gotten a shock when he'd nearly run right into Erin. Somehow, he'd managed to fool her though. He peered back around the corner, watching Erin's hurried progress. Once there was a decent crowd of students between the two of them, he started to follow. After a few moments, Alex realized she was going to the Front Office. He frowned slightly; he wondered what she wanted there. He decreased the distance between them a little; Alex wanted to be able to keep an eye on her and who she talked to. They hurried past the storeroom and onwards. A few seconds after they passed the room, an alarm went off. Students everywhere began to scream; the hallways became flooded with running kids. Alex was nearly knocked over twice and he only just kept sight of Erin, she was running now. All around him, Teachers and Students alike rushed to get outside where the roll would be taken. Soon, Erin was out of sight, in the office and Alex was the only one in the halls. He suddenly realized that he'd been duped; Erin had realized that someone was following her. She'd pulled the alarm by the storeroom to flush out her stalker. Alex quickly flattened himself against the wall by the Office door. He peered in and was greeted by an interesting scene. Erin sat at the secretary's desk furiously typing into her computer, and then she gave a triumphant cry.

"Yeah! Huh? Hello there…"

Alex didn't know what made the girl so happy or what'd grabbed her attention, but he decided now was the time to interrupt her. He took a breath, listening to the rapid typing, then ran into the Office. Erin was standing at the side of the Office looking suspiciously innocent.

"Erin?" he called out, going for the surprised routine again. "What're you doing here?" Erin looked at him, appearing just as surprised and innocent. "I was waiting for a teacher? What's going on?"

Alex thought quickly. "It's the fire alarm, come on! We need to get back to our class for when they call roll!" He motioned for her to follow. After a quick jog through the silent building (that is, silent except for the alarm), they reached the tarmac grounds where everyone was lined up with their teachers. The two of them got there just in time for roll call. Oddly, Erin was never called out. Alex narrowed his eyes, first she knew his name without being told, and then she set off a false alarm to use the teacher's computers, now she didn't exist on the class list. Things weren't adding up and it made his uneasy. A couple of metres ahead of him, Erin discreetly glanced at the printout she'd managed to get from the teacher's system as they made their way back to class. After studying them for a couple of moments, she laughed quietly.

"All right Alex Rider, let's see what you're made of…" she said. Erin always had enjoyed a challenge.


	7. Rumours

**Chapter Four, Rumours**

**A week later**

Alex couldn't concentrate on the lesson; he'd done the homework anyway. Ever since the false alarm, he'd quickly become obsessed with Erin. Little of what she did seemed to add up, and what did was suspicious. Alex had been quietly investigating her, slipping her into conversations to gather information. Considering that Erin talked to no one at school, a surprising amount turned up. He'd begun to write it all down, something about Erin wasn't right and he was determined to find out what. Alex's friend Tom sat down next to him.

"Alex? Can you give me a hand with this stuff, I haven't been listening to a word?" tom looked a little sheepish and Alex felt bad refusing him.

"Sorry Tom, I haven't been listening either."

Tom didn't look too upset; he shrugged and begun to doodle idly in his exercise book. Alex decided to take a risk.

"Tom, have you noticed something about Erin?"

His friend put down his pen slowly and looked up at Alex. "I think I know what this is about."

Alex felt his hopes rise, out of all of Brookland. Tom alone knew the truth about Alex.

"You're falling for Erin, aren't you?"

Alex felt his hopes die; Tom hadn't made the same conclusion as him. His friend took his silence a confirmation.

"I knew it! You've been talking about her none stop for like, a week now!" Tom exclaimed gleefully. Alex quieted him.

"Shh, I do not like her!" he hissed. For some odd reason, that statement didn't sit right in his mind. Alex mentally shook himself, Erin was right in front of him, she'd hear them if he didn't quiet Tom. His friend looked a little disappointed,

"You don't like her?"

"No!" again, that odd feeling of untruth. Alex frowned a little, why was that? Tom looked at him curiously.

"Why do you ask about Erin then?" He enquired. Alex just shook his head.

"Never mind. Let me see your work, I might be able to help."

After a few minutes, Tom went back to his own desk and Alex was able to bring his list out. He went over it for what felt like the millionth time.

**Odd things concerning Erin:**

**Saw her in Office- hacking admin. System?**

**Knew my name without being told**

**Constantly making strange calls**

**Rumour says she got into trouble with police and that she was involved in bullying (No one knows if she was bully or victim). **

**Talks to no one unless forced**

**She's on none of the class lists and no one knows her last name**

**Teacher's always nervous near her, she seems to enjoy that**

**Seems to be able to avoid me well, hard to follow**

Alex sighed. He knew his list wasn't much and that the last point especially was enough to make him look like a weirdo stalker. Yet… he _knew_ there was something about her that was just wrong. For the rest of the day, Alex dwelled on his misgivings, if Tom noted his mood he didn't comment. At the end of the day, Alex said goodbye to his friend and went over to the bike rack. As he wheeled the bike out, he caught sight of Erin riding slowly to the street crossing. Before he knew what he was doing, Alex was on the bike ready to follow. Then, he paused.

'_What am I doing? Was I really about to follow this girl just because I have a hunch she might not be a normal student?'_

Watching Erin cycle across the road made Alex's mind up for him.

'_Yes. There **is** something wrong here and I **will** find out what it is. What if it turned out I was right but told no one and she did something. It can't hurt just to see what she does, if Erin heads straight to a house or something, I'll leave right away.'_

With that in mind, Alex took off after Erin. Once she was in sight he slowed down, keeping her on the other side of the street and a good 6 metres ahead. After awhile, they entered an industrial zone, construction sights and dirty building surrounded them. Somehow, Alex got the feeling that Erin was up to something here, his suspicions were confirmed when she dismounted her bike and stood waiting by the side of the road. Alex tied his bike to a nearby stand and stood in the shadow of a half constructed building, ready for whatever was about to happen. He didn't have to wait long.


	8. Out of Scope

**Chapter Five, Out of Scope**

A scruffy looking red Holden pulled up besides Erin, a sports bag was passed out and then the car took off. Alex watched closely from the shadows. Erin looked briefly in the bag and then stalked back to her bike. She wheeled over to the bike rack and he winced. His bike was still chained there and she would surely notice it. Yet, Erin didn't seem to see; she chained her own bike up and disappeared into an alley between two buildings. Alex hesitated, it was getting late and Jack would be wondering where he was. Then, he shrugged, he'd make excuses later. Alex darted out from his hideout and after Erin. The alley she's slipped into was dark and littered with leftover construction materials. As soon as he entered the lane, something hard crashed into his side. Alex gave a yelp and dodged the next blow, desperately trying to see what was attacking him. Then he saw it, Erin stood before him, icy eyes blazing. Straight away, Alex could tell that she was a serious follower of martial arts, the way she stood poised on the balls of her feet said it all. The sports bag lay behind her, halfway unzipped.

"You were stupid to follow me here, Rider." She said quietly.

Alex and Erin circled each other warily, looking for any opening in the other's defences.

"You knew I was following you?" he asked carefully. Erin nodded.

"Believe it or not, you're not that good." She said arrogantly. Alex lunged at her suddenly, hoping to take her by surprise. For a second, it seemed to work, but then, the two teens were fighting fiercely. Erin delivered a spin kick that would've taken any other teenager by surprise, yet Alex blocked it. What did take him by surprise though was the Glock handgun Erin produced from under her jacket.

"I suggest you leave, now preferably." She drawled. Alex backed up, fuming. He could see Erin was enjoying the control she was exerting over him. Before he could reply to her previous comment, he tripped over something behind him. It was the sports bag. Alex tripping over it had spilt out its contents. Sitting painfully on the ground, he stared at the things now gleaming in the afternoon's half-light. A dismantled sniper rifle and bullets. Alex stood and looked at a furious Erin; he'd never been so confused.

"You…what are you?!" He exclaimed. Erin stalked past him and pushed the equipment back into the bag before turning to answer.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She was still managing to pull of the cocky attitude. It was beginning to annoy Alex; he kicked up, knocking the gun from Erin's grip. Then, he yanked her arms behind her.

"Yes, I would like to know actually." He snarled, straining her arms a little further. Erin hissed lividly and then answered.

"I presume you know what a freelance killer is?"

Alex looked at her oddly.

"Yeah, they're basically just mercenaries." He said slowly. Erin shook her head, sounding smug as she talked.

"Wring, mercenaries work as soldiers or guards for their employers. A freelance killer does one job only; they take out hits for their employers. Also, freelancers rarely if ever work for the same person more then once."

Alex released Erin and gave her a baffled look.

"I don't get what that has to do with you?"

Erin's visage turned to a smug expression, her answer just as much so.

"You're looking at the only teenage freelancer in the world."


	9. Knockout

**Chapter Seven, knockout**

Alex stared at Erin. He didn't know wether to laugh or run. She watched him levelly, never blinking.

"You're…serious?" He asked slowly, hoping he'd heard incorrectly. Erin looked annoyed.

"If I wasn't, why would I be carrying two guns with me everywhere? _Why_ would I be able to match you in combat skills? Why would MI6…" She cut off suddenly, looking nervous. Alex however jumped on the scrap of information.

"MI6? Why would they what?" He demanded. Erin just picked up her Glock and shook her head.

"Nothing, I got a little carried away." She muttered, holstering the weapon. Alex didn't want to give up that easily.

"It _wasn't_ getting carried away, you _are_ involved with MI6. Tell me what's going on!" Alex half yelled. Erin cast an exasperated look in his direction.

"Rider, I'm warning you, messing with me is one step removed from suicide."

He stood his ground resolutely.

"Yeah sure it is. I'm not leaning until you tell me what's going on and why Mi6 is involved in this."

Erin stalked forward.

"You won't leave me alone?" She asked quietly. Alex shook his head mulishly.

"Fine!" she snapped and bashed her head into his. Alex passed out, stars blinking in front of him before dissolving into darkness. Erin stepped over him nonchalantly, walking out into the evening. She had a job to do; no schoolboy was going to stop her. For someone in London, tonight was the last evening they'd ever see.


	10. Explanations

**Chapter Eight, Explanations**

Alex woke with a groan. His head felt like it was splitting open. Sitting up gingerly, he blinked slowly. With a yelp, Alex suddenly realized that it was dark around him. Jack would be frantic, he needed to call her. However, when he put his hand in his pocket, Alex couldn't find his phone. Standing quickly, he spotted it lying crushed near the entrance to the alley. Erin must have done it, he was sure he'd left it in his pocket. Feeling increasingly grumpy, Alex walked out to the bike rack. His bike was still locked there; Erin had been kind enough to leave him that at least. Sighing, Alex mounted it and cycled quickly home. The lights of warm suburban homes and small businesses passed by in a blur as he hurried home. Eventually, his house came into sight, Alex could just see Jack's silhouette in the front window. It looked like she was one the phone, having a heated discussion. Wearily, he wheeled his bike onto the front porch and rang the doorbell. Somewhere along the way, he'd lost his house key. The door whipped open barely three seconds after the doorbell rang. Jack stood on the other side, red hair even messier then usual. She tossed the phone aside.

"ALEX! _Where_ were you?! I've been on to the _police_ looking for you! Don't you know what time it is?!"

Putting his bicycle aside, he did his best to avoid the rapid fire questions.

"Can't we eat first? I promise I'll answer then."

With a long suffering sigh, Jack nodded.

"Oh, alright. You're going to answer my questions during dinner though!"

So, seven minutes later, Alex found himself telling her what happened over a huge serving of spaghetti.

"So then she goes and head bashes me! Is she one crazy girl or what?!" he finished up. For a moment, Jack didn't answer. She merely sat there looking incredulous. Then she spoke.

"You followed her just because you thought she was a bit odd?" Jack asked. Alex looked at her annoyed. She didn't seem to understand just how important what he'd just told her was.

"It doesn't matter why I followed her! She's obviously involved with MI6 though and she's going to kill someone!"

Jack appeared to be intensely uncomfortable with the discussion.

"Alex… I don't see why you need to get involved in this. Can't you just let it be someone else's business for once?" she asked imploringly. Alex stared at her in amazement.

"Just let it be someone else's business?! I did that in France with Sabina and look what happened then! Her Dad nearly got killed because I ignored Yassen walking down the street!" he shook his head angrily.

"Erin is going to kill someone, and I can stop her! I can call the police or something…" he trailed off as Jack interrupted.

"No Alex! You cannot stop her! You don't know her last name, where she's going or even if she's really going to kill someone! Besides, if she's really with MI6, there's nothing you can do! Hell, the police wouldn't even believe you!!!"

Alex sat silently for a moment; he knew Jack was telling the truth. With a sigh, she stood and gathered up the dishes.

"You should go get some sleep, I'll take care of everything tonight. I'm glad you're home safe Alex."

Feeling suddenly drained, Alex stood as well and carried his bag up to his bedroom. With a bad temper, he changed into pyjamas and got into bed. For awhile, he couldn't sleep. Thoughts chased each other, one after another, stopping him from resting.

'_I don't care what Jack says, I have to do something! Erin's dangerous, no matter what Jack thinks…maybe I'll ask Mrs. Jones…."_

With that slightly encouraging thought, Alex drifted off to sleep.


	11. Alright, u knew it was coming!

**Infinite Tutting!**

Ok guys, the whole not reviewing thing was cute for awhile, but enough's enough. There will be NO more updating till u guys get off ure butts and write me some decent reviews! I mean, is it really that hard? I don't think so, but some reviewing impaired people may disagree….w/e. here are the reviews so far:

taaadaaa  
2007-04-10  
ch 1, reply

Oh my gosh! (my nanna sort of stalks me so i have to say gosh, instead of god) OK those of you who read the intro, hi! I'm Alex and I'm vampassasin's friend. I know I'm putting my life at risk by being friends with her, but whatever. I just wanted to say i feel loved! (to vampassasin: you shouldn't really be mentioning my name on the internet)

CherubChick92  
2007-04-10  
ch 9, reply

LOVE THE WHOLE STOEY!VERY COOL!Can't wait for next chapter!

2TheMaX  
2007-04-09  
ch 8, reply

Its really good!! I really want 2 know whats gonna happen! Post more chapters soon!!

Magical Conductor  
2007-04-09  
ch 8, reply

nice writing. so if Erin is a free lancer or watever its called then why did she talk to mrs jones unless ure talking about someone totally different. also, you haven't given Erin a concrete backround yet.man you just know how to keep things in suspense. hope u update sonn.

m.c. (magical conductor)

Magical Conductor  
2007-04-08  
ch 2, reply

col, you haven't revealed anything though. and mrs. jones isn't the kind of person who would actually care about the welfare of her agents.

this review is from,  
magical condutor

Five reviews!!!!!!!! That's all you can manage!! Pathetic!! My pasta does better reviews (come to think of it, my pasta does a lot of stuff…mmmmmmm, pasta!!!! drools slightly before remembering she's in public) anywho,

Ttfn from Vampassassin!

Never-ending hugs for my loyal readers!


	12. No choice in the matter

**Chapter 9, No Choice in the Matter**

The sound of the phone ringing woke Alex. With a grumble, he sat up and got out of bed. Yawning hugely, he got to the stairs just as he heard Jack pick up the obstinately trilling machine. Trying to wake up properly, Alex stood at the top of the stairs listening to Jack on the phone.

"Hello? Oh, hi Tom….sure, Alex will be up soon anyway, he'll meet you there. What's that? Oh, no problem, I was awake already. Okay, thanks, Alex will be there."

There was a click and Alex shambled down the stairs. Jack watched him come down, wrapped in a blue fluffy dressing gown.

"That was Tom."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I figured as you said 'Hi Tom."

Jack made a face. "It's too early in the morning for sarcasm Alex! He wants you to meet him in front of the cinema in fifteen minutes."

Alex blinked incredulously. "Fifteen minutes? It's 7 in the morning! Did Tom say what he wanted?"

Jack yawned grumpily.

"No, I suspect if he's calling at 7, it's something personal. Now, go get ready, I told him you'd meet him."

Shrugging, Alex complied. He ran upstairs and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Running back down, he grabbed his house keys and some money. As he left the house with his bike, Jack yelled out.

"Be home for lunch, bring Tom if you want!"

Nodding, Alex got on his bike and begun cycling into town. Early morning traffic was heavy, but the paths were relatively empty, so he managed to get to the cinema 5 minutes early. No one stood in front, so Alex got of his bike. He looked around, but the street was empty.

'_He's probably late…I'll have to wait for him since Erin crushed my phone.'_

Five minutes came, but Tom didn't appear. Feeling a little annoyed, Alex sat, back to the cinema wall. Another 5 minutes came and went, but his friend still didn't come. Finally, Alex stood; Tom didn't seem to be coming, so he'd go to his house and maybe meet him on the way. He was just about to mount his bike when a navy Jaguar pulled up. Its windows were tinted black and something about the car was vaguely menacing. Alex glanced at it interestedly as the left back door opened and a man got out. He was average height and solid looking. He wore a business suit and had a shaven head. Alex stared as the man walked right up to him.

"Rider right?" The man had a low, smooth voice. Alex nodded suspiciously.

"Yeah…who's asking?" he answered slowly, subtly shifting into a karate position.

"You need to come with me, orders from my boss." The man jerked his head to the car. Alex immediately took a step back.

"I don't think so. You must have the wrong person, there's no way I'm coming with you." He said, balancing his weight.

"Come on mate, don't make this difficult. Are you coming or not?" the man looked vaguely annoyed now, frown across his face.

"No! I'm not coming with you, so rack off!" Alex snapped tension in his voice. The man shook his head slowly.

"Alright, I tried to make it easy for you." His voice was firm. Alex gave a yell as the man grabbed him by the arm.

"Sorry mate, you're coming with me, wether or not you want to!"

Alex tried to yank his arm back, but only succeeded in getting his other one pinned.

"Let go!" he yelled. The man merely pulled him towards the open car door. Thinking quickly, Alex kicked out behind him, hard. His attacker cursed and let go, clutching his stomach. Not stopping to look back, Alex jumped on his bike. As he started to pedal away, another man jumped out of the car. Alex yelped as bullets suddenly started whizzing over his head and into the path in front of him. Swerving wildly, Alex turned sharply onto a smaller side street. Behind him, he heard the car tear after him.

'_It's bloody Amsterdam all over again!_' he thought frantically. Suddenly, his bike gave a crazy jerk and went crashing to the ground, Alex with it. With a scratched hand and knee, he jumped up again, cursing. The wheels on his bike were impaled on a plank studded with nails that had been laid across the street. Alex looked around desperately; he could hear the car closing the distance between them. Then, the Jaguar roared into sight. It skidded to a stop, closing the street off behind him. The man with the gun got out and calmly stepped forward, aim steady.

"Come on kid; stop making this hard on yourself. I'm not going to hurt you if you just come quietly."

Alex backed up, and ran the opposite way. Oddly, the man didn't fire. He chuckled and stood watching. Alex over his shoulder, trying to see if he was being pursued again, with a sigh of relief, he realized he wasn't. As he turned to face forwards again, something caught around his legs and he crashed to the ground again. Angrily, Alex got up again to come face to face with a gun barrel.

"Geez Rider, you really know how to complicate things. Now don't move and I won't put a dart where it'll be impossible to remove."

Alex stepped back slowly. He openly gaped when he saw who held the weapon.

Erin stood smugly, rifle aimed at Alex's neck. With some relief, he realized the weapons were only dart guns, not designed to kill. The two men from the car got out, the taller one chuckling at the other who Alex had kicked.

"What the hell's going on here? What are you doing with those two?" He asked angrily, rubbing his scratched palm. Erin lowered the rifle and leaned on it cockily.

"What's going on? Hmmm, you'll just have to wait and find out. These gentlemen are just here to help me bring you in. apparently you're quite stubborn, so the boss recommended a few people to bring you in."

Alex fumed silently at that, he had no chance of getting out of here and Erin knew it.

"Who's the 'boss'?" He asked crankily. Erin smiled brightly.

"Actually, I think you've met him. He came along for the ride, Rider." She laughed at her own joke and gestured to the car. Alex turned as well. When he saw the man getting out from the front passenger seat, he felt his gut churn angrily.

"Hello Alex, I haven't seen you in awhile, have I?" Alan Blunt stood by the car, dressed as usual in a crisp suit. Erin poked Alex with the rifle, pushing him forward.

"Forget it." He shook his head. Blunt raised an eyebrow.

"Forget what?" he asked voice emotionless. Alex stood with arms crossed, scowling.

"I know why you want to bring me in. Forget it! I am not doing another freaking mission!" he said angrily. He felt his spirits sink as the two men, who Alex now knew were MI6 agents, closed in on him. They grabbed one of his arms each and dragged him to the car. After struggling briefly, Alex gave up and sat bristling in-between Erin and the man he kicked in the back of the Jaguar. Blunt sat in the front and turned to face him.

"Actually Alex, you'll do as I wish. You really have no say in the matter."


	13. Revelations

**Chapter 10, Revelations**

Blunt turned back around and opened a newspaper. Alex could just see the front page. One headline in particular grabbed his attention.

**Chinese Government Official Killed in apparent 'Suicide Attempt'**

Earlier on this morning, Lao Zin, a Chinese official was found dead in his bedroom. Though no official report has been released at this time, investigators are admitting he appears to have committed suicide. One bullet was found lodged in his skull, fired directly in-between his eyes…..

Alex couldn't see any more of the article but he looked over at Erin.

"Suicide my ass." He growled at the blond girl. She glanced between him and the front page.

"Oh, that. Pity isn't it; people see suicide as their only way out? Luckily, I made sure it was a quick thing…" she smiled easily and Blunt nodded in the front seat. Alex snorted and went back to looking out the window. After awhile, the pulled up in front of the building that Alex knew so well. MI6 headquarters. The man next to him got out and opened the door for Blunt. Alex and Erin climbed out as well, Erin staying behind him the entire time. The other man stayed in the car, he drove the Jaguar away, presumably to an underground parking lot. Alex turned back around and followed the other three into the building's lobby. The woman behind the reception desk raised an eyebrow at Erin, but waved them forward anyhow. Alan led the way to a discreet elevator a little way down an adjacent hallway. A camera mounted above the elevator watched them silently as Blunt walked in. he motioned for Erin and Alex to follow. The other man nodded and didn't follow; he walked back to the reception desk. Alex caught a glimpse of him talking to the receptionist before the doors closed with a slight thump. The elevator started to raise rapidly, Alex felt his stomach give a jolt when it stopped. Slowly, the doors opened. He blinked in surprise; the room the elevator opened into was Blunt's office. Erin smirked at Alex's surprise.

"You honestly didn't think he'd have a secure way of getting up here?" she asked. Alex merely followed her out of the machine and shot her a resentful glance.

"Alex, nice to see you again!" he jumped as Mrs. Jones stood from where she'd been sitting at Blunt's desk. She turned to Erin.

"Is there a particular reason you're still carrying that?" The woman pointed to the rifle in the girl's grasp. Erin glanced at it amused.

"Oh… I guess I forgot to leave it in the car."

Blunt sat in his chair and gave a snort.

"Well, Smithers will be around later on today, you'll give it back then. I don't want to hear any more complaints about you not returning weaponry."

Erin shrugged and chose a seat. She leaned it back against the wall arrogantly and pointed to another chair.

"Why don't you sit Rider?"

Alex shook his head.

"I'll stand." He said. Erin shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Alex looked over at Blunt and Jones; both of them were watching him closely.

"You probably have a few questions…" Mrs Jones started. Alex laughed humourlessly at that.

"Probably." He agreed sarcastically. Blunt frowned at him; Alex's attitude didn't impress him. Mrs Jones shot the MI6 head a look and turned back to Alex.

"Yes, well, now's the time to ask. We won't have time later." She said.

Alex tried to ignore the last part of the statement and thought.

"Who the hell is Erin and why's she involved with you people?" he asked.

Mrs Jones brought out a peppermint and began to suck on it before answering.

"Erin's the same age as you. I believe she already explained exactly what a freelancer was?"

Alex nodded sullenly and Erin smirked. Mrs Jones continued after a brief pause.

"Her mission isn't of any concern to you, but we hired her for a job."

Alex shook his head disbelievingly.

"Right… the Chinese guy…"

Erin laughed at that.

"Ha! You think he's the target? No way, I just needed information from him. I couldn't leave him alive to identify me or MI6's involvement."

Alex shook his head disgustedly.

"You guys are sick! Hiring 15 year olds to do what you're afraid to!"

Blunt looked annoyed now. Alex got an odd sense of satisfaction out of that, the man's normal emotionless manner irritated him. Mrs Jones shot her boss a look though.

"You're welcome to your own opinion, but I'm afraid that it has no effect on how we run Alex. Anymore questions?"

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah… if the Chinese official wasn't the target, who is?"

Mrs Jones and Blunt froze for a moment and Erin tilted the chair into its proper position and glanced at the three of them interestedly. Blunt regained his focus first.

"That's really none of your business. However, we will tell you he's a ruthless man. It's probably safer you don't know who he is actually."

Alex scowled bad temperedly and gestured to Erin.

"So she knows and I don't?"

Erin's cocky expression faded for the first time that day and Alex nearly cheered.

"Ah. That would be because MI6 rather values your safety above mine."

Alex grunted in reluctant acceptance of that and stretched.

"Right, I don't have anymore questions so I think I'll go home now."

He headed towards the office door, but stopped as the driver from the Jaguar appeared, blocking the way.

"Actually, Alex, we called you in for a reason. We need your help-"

"NO! how many times do I have to tell you people?! I'm not interested in working for you!" he interrupted, temper rising quickly. Mrs Jones looked a little surprised by his outburst. Blunt however, looked at him coldly.

"Sit down Alex." The words were icy, but Alex shook his head anyway.

"Sit down now! You have no choice in this matter, so you can either listen to me now politely or listen to from a holding cell. It's your choice; Jacob here will oblige me if you need restraining."

The man nodded in the back of the room. Fists clenched, Alex sat across from Blunt.

"Fine…I'm listening…" he growled. Mrs Jones smiled uncertainly and Alex suddenly realized something.

'_They're afraid of me…both Blunt and Jones; they fear what I am and what I'll become. That's why they hired Erin, because they don't fear her.'_

A little shocked by that, Alex listened as Mrs Jones began.

"About two months ago, we heard rumours about a terrorist funded organization named Liberty. They sound like a charity or social awareness group, but in reality they're something much more dangerous. They believe in 'liberating' countries from governments that they believe to be dangerous to the free world. However, 'liberating' means either the assassination of these government leaders or helping another group to throw them out of power. Sometimes they even kidnap or blackmail a politician's family. All in all, they're a very unpleasant organization."

Blunt took over from her here.

"Normally, we'd leave this to whatever country is currently being targeted. However, we recently found out that a production plant of some sort had been built in Poland by this group and that they'd manage to get a hold of some Uranium and other scientific equipment. This is bad enough, but we got word of something even worse: Liberty has become international, separate cells exist all over the world and all seem to be working on some huge project. We really have no clue what it is, but we do know something. The whole operation is centred on the main plant in Poland."

Alex struggled to focus.

"So…how does this help us?"

Erin spoke up for the first time in awhile.

"This helps us because it means if the Poland plant is destroyed, the other cells around the world will be incapacitated. All of Liberty's operations are reliant on word from Poland, that's where their leader resides."

Alex gave Mrs Jones and Blunt a sceptical glance.

"You expect me to destroy an entire production plant?"

Mrs Jones shook her head.

"Of course not, we merely need you to work as reconnaissance and provide the information that'll allow us to destroy the facility. We won't deny that it's a hazardous job, but provided you're careful, there shouldn't be too much danger to you."

Alex shook his head, he'd heard that before.


	14. Cold, Colder, Coldest

**Chapter 11, Cold, colder and Coldest**

**Two Weeks Later**

'_Stupid Mission…Stupid Cold… why the hell can't terrorists hide out somewhere warm?!'_

Alex silently grumbled away as he watched the facility. He was lying on his belly in the snow on a wooded hill overlooking the production plant. It was only just above freezing and the wind was getting through what Smithers had promised was an 'element proof' jacket. The thick beanie, gloves, boots and fabric ski mask weren't helping much either.

'_At least I get a decent pair of binoculars…_' he thought. The pair he was holding were very powerful and had night vision along with infra-red and weak x-ray. Alex gave a sigh, this was the third day in a row that he'd been here and nothing had happened. Midday was the only interesting time, a single truck would arrive. After a search almost too thorough to be believable, it would disappear into the compound. A few hours later, it'd drive out again. The truck had already been today and Alex was bored stiff. Frozen stiff as well, almost.

'_Alright, stuff all the crap about staying still until night, I'm cold and I'm getting up to stretch!'_

He slowly stood and straightened out. Snow fell from where it'd stuck to him, covering his feet in a light blanket of white. Alex considered going for a quick run to warm up, but decided against it. Before being sent out here, Blunt had said no movement until night when he'd be least visible. Alex was already breaking that rule just standing.

'_What a stupid rule…I'm stretching now and no harm done. Blunt must be paranoid or something…'_

It was then something slammed into the hill below him, exploding into a ball of flying dirt and fire. A klaxon alarm suddenly started in the facility and all the watch tower guards were aiming at something. Him. Another small explosion went off, further up the hill. Alex gave a startled cry and dropped onto his belly.

'_They have RPG's?!' __**A/N RPG Rocket Propelled Grenade**_

Any disbelief disappeared as an explosion went off nearby, nearly causing a tree to fall on him. Alex stood again and ran for his life. Behind him, two new sounds were added to the detonations. Shouting and barking. He suddenly realized that he'd been ambushed, whilst he'd lain in the snow dieing of boredom, men had snuck up around him. The barking meant they had dogs.

'_Probably big ones… Crap….'_

Alex ran desperately through the trees, explosions going off all around him. Trees collapsed left right and centre whilst the sound of the yelling was closer now. He sprinted as fast as possible, an idea had struck him. Alex had camped a little way across a new river, if he crossed it and hid, the dogs would lose his scent. It wasn't as easy as it sounded though, the men were closing in all around him, he would have to sprint like hell to get across the river in time. Reflecting on this, Alex put on an extra burst of speed, trying not to get killed by the explosions or pine tree branches flying through the air. The dogs sounded closer now, so it was a wonderful feeling when the river finally came into sight, wintry light reflecting off of its liquid surface. Alex didn't even hesitate before diving in; his pursuers were too close to be concerned with the iciness of the water. Struggling against the river's current, Alex waded out of the river, dripping and shivering. There was just enough time to scramble underneath an overgrown bush before the dogs and their keepers appeared. Three huge German Shepard's ran into a clearing on the opposite side of the river, jaws slavering and eyes wild. Four men followed closely, clothed in stark white and carrying automatic rifles. They were dressed in jackets, boots and masks, not dissimilar to a Nazi winter uniform. One of them watched the dogs sniffing amongst the trees.

"Die Hunde haben den Geruch des Einbrechers verloren. Wir sollten sie ein wenig länger hungern lassen haben, sie werden zu leicht abgelenkt." **A/N translated that's: The dogs have lost the intruders scent. We should have starved them longer; they're too easily distracted** He growled. Two of the others laughed, and one spoke in heavy, accented English.

"Yes, we should go back to base. No point in freezing out here."

Alex watched closely as the four men laughed and called the dogs to heel. Once they were all restrained, they began jogging back into the woods. One of them, a slim man who had stayed silent, glanced back over his shoulder before disappearing into the trees. Even though Alex couldn't see his face, he got the distinct feeling that the man knew that he was nearby. Once the sounds of the dogs and the men had faded away, Alex shuffled out from underneath the bush. He breathed out in relief.

'_That was much too close; I think I'll start asking Blunt for a salary…'_

Suddenly, something hard crashed into the side of Alex's head. Dazed, he stumbled forward, nearly falling face first into the river. The only thing that stopped him was the wire that came out of nowhere to loop around his neck. Blinking the stars out of his eyes, Alex struggled wildly as his throat started to close off. In the river, he could see the reflection of a man dressed very similarly to the dog keepers. Due to the thick, winter gear he wore, Alex could only see his eyes in a narrow slit between the man's hat and the scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face. The man was holding the wire looped around Alex's neck, pulling tight on each end. Alex began to panic thrash wildly, the red and purple dots pulsing in his vision told him that he loss of consciousness, if not death was mere seconds away. He couldn't breath; his windpipe wasn't taking in air. Giving a raspy choke, Alex tried desperately to hit the man. Trembling and weak from asphyxiation, he only succeeded in raising his arm far enough to tear the ski mask from his face. As his face became visible, Alex's attacker's eyes widened suddenly in shock. Alex flopped to the ground as the wire around his neck loosened abruptly. Laying on the cold frozen ground, he was sure he was about to die, his throat felt completely closed off and the world seemed to have ran out of air. In the reflection on the river, Alex could see the man tear off his scarf. His vision was too blurry to see his face though, everything swam around him and he could hear a dull pounding noise in his ears that was slowing even know: his heartbeat. The man called his name once.

"Alex!"

Then, everything went black.


	15. Unwelcome Reunion

**Chapter 12, Reunion**

Alex slowly awoke, feeling warm.

'_That's a nice surprise… I'm warm, that's nice too…' _

It was so nice a feeling, that Alex decided to keep his eyes closed a little longer. For now, he was content to lay there, nice and warm where there was no such things as guns or danger. Then, as he rolled over contently, a voice spoke. As it did, the real world, a cold place, came flooding back.

"You heal quickly, I wasn't expecting to see you awake for another few hours, if at all."

Alex gulped,

'_Oh god no…I know that voice…'_

With eyes still shut, Alex said out loud.

"Please either go away or shoot me, you turning up is probably causing me untold physical and psychological damage."

There was a brief pause, and then Alex groaned. He wasn't dreaming because the voice was answering him.

"Considering you were nearly dead mere hours ago, that's not particularly funny."

Alex grimly opened his eyes and faced the man who was speaking to him.

"It wasn't supposed to be, just like you're not supposed to be alive." He growled, sitting up. The man standing across from him frowned slightly.

"Not that it matters much, but have you ever stopped to realize that that is pretty rude considering I just saved your life."

Alex gaped openly at the man.

"You were the one who endangered it in the first place!" he exclaimed.

"Regardless, I could've easily dumped you in the river. Instead, I chose to revive you. No matter what role I may have played in the endangerment of your life in the first place, that's something to be glad of."

Alex bit his tongue until it bled to make sure he was truly awake and wasn't having some sort of bizarre dream. Finding his tongue gave a realistic spurt of pain, he stood shakily. The man moved forward, looking a little annoyed.

"You should sit back down Alex, you're still very sick. A concussion and a near strangling aren't minor worries. "

Alex shook his head mulishly.

"No, I'm not sitting down. I'm leaving now before I start freaking out or something. I can take care of myself, so no help needed from you."

The man moved in front of him and picked up a needle from a plastic case lying near the couch Alex had just vacated.

"Actually, you're not going anywhere. You're still in critical condition and unfit to go back into the cold."

When Alex tried in vain to get around the man before him, he felt the sharp prick of the needle in his neck. Feeling suddenly weak, he sat heavily down on the couch. The man pressed his lips together grimly and put the needle down on a coffee table.

"That was a sedative, it'll take effect shortly. I suggest you make yourself comfortable before then." With that, the man left the suddenly blurred room. Alex gave a sigh of defeat and obeyed. His last thought before falling asleep was:

'_How is Yassen Gregorovich alive?" _


	16. Soup and Sickness

**Chapter 13, Soup and Sickness**

The second time waking wasn't as comfortable. Alex woke stiff, sore and didn't have the luck to forget where he was. Everything was just as cold and agonising as it usually was. With a grunt, Alex sat up a little. He reluctantly took stock of his surroundings. He was on a couch in a small, neat living room. A nearby electric fireplace put out enough heat to ward of the worst of the cold. Otherwise, the room was cool and dark. He gingerly stood up from the couch and rubbed his neck. Alex felt a lump where the needle had penetrated his skin. It itched, so he scratched it idly.

'_What now? I'm standing which is good…I don't think Yassen's here…' _Alex wondered. A gurgling noise in his stomach answered him; it'd been awhile since his last meal. Feeling oddly reluctant to move through the small house, Alex walked through a nearby door and into a kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it was small and very neat. There were no dishes lying anywhere unwashed or drying. The only sign of habitude was the pile of folders and a laptop on top of the table. Hunger temporarily forgotten, Alex picked one of the folders up and flipped it open. The top sheet of paper inside showed some sort of message.

TO ALL OF LEVEL 4 SECURITY AND ABOVE:

INFORMANT REPORTS IMPLY MOLE OR SPY TO BE ARRIVING TO PROVIDE RECONAISSANCE FOR MI6. NO INFO AT THIS TIME ON THE SPY. HIENLER HAS EXPRESSED NO INTEREST IN HOSTAGE; PERMISSION TO KILL HAS BEEN LICENSED. REPORT ONCE TASK HAS BEEN COMPLETED, FAILURE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Alex felt his stomach give an odd sort of flip. He'd been set up, someone in MI6 was leaking and coming to Poland had been a huge ambush. Now he knew why Yassen had tried to kill him. Just as this though crossed his mind, Alex heard soft footsteps behind him. With a start, he hastily closed the file and repositioned it on the table. He just had time to move away from the table before Yassen himself walked into the kitchen. The Russian stoped when he saw Alex. He didn't say anything immediately; he merely narrowed his eyes and looked at him a curious expression.

"Your breathing is heavy and you're perspiring Alex. I didn't get the impression you were quite that ill and I'm rarely wrong when it comes to reading a person." Yassen said eventually. Alex did his best to look confused by these observations, but the task was made more difficult by the way a droplet of sweat slid from his forehead.

'_He's only suspicious now, he doesn't know for sure…'_ He thought frantically, _'Just look innocent… Damn, what does innocence look like again?!'_

Yassen continued to stare suspiciously at Alex until he breathed out shakily and spoke.

"I was looking for…food…I'm hungry." He said slowly, it was half true. For a second, Yassen didn't look convinced, but then he relaxed and shrugged.

"I'm not surprised; you haven't eaten in a day and a half. Actually, I was a little concerned for awhile, the sedative usually only lasts 5-6 hours. You must be affected by it more strongly then most"

Alex was the one to stare now.

"A day and a half?!" he exclaimed, shocked. Yassen nodded amused.

"That's not including the amount of time you were out on the hill."

Alex sat at the table heavily; he would've missed three communications with MI6 by now. They probably thought that he'd deserted or worse. Alex sighed and put his head in his hands, things had just got very complicated.

"I hope you eat soup because that's what you're getting." Yassen said from the kitchen. The man pulled quickly made the sort of soup made from a packet with a kettle of hot water with his back to Alex. He then sat across from the boy and passed over a hot mug.

"You're not eating…" Alex noted. Yassen gave an odd smile and shook his head.

"No, I'm not hungry and I don't eat much anyway."

Warily, Alex sniffed the soup in his hands. Yassen noticed and frowned slightly.

"I haven't poisoned it." He said, slightly annoyed. Alex gave an uneasy laugh and took a sip, never taking his eyes off of the Russian across from him. The soup scalded Alex's tongue, so he put the mug down with a wince. Feeling a little warmer, he breathed out slowly. The side of his neck gave an itch, so Alex rubbed it distractedly. An awkward silence stretched, so he took another sip of the soup, longer this time. As Alex put the mug down again, he shivered. He didn't feel cold, but Alex felt a little giddy and he trembled a little. Yassen raised an eyebrow.

"You're cold?"

Alex laughed; the question somehow struck him as funny. He felt warm and more confident then before.

'I guess it's the soup…'

"No, not cold." He said, smiling a little too widely. Yassen frowned for a spilt second, but then smiled slightly.

"You looked nervous when I first came in, you were panting as well." He said calmly. Alex nodded cheerfully, blinking a little.

"Yeah, I was, wasn't I? You did startle me though; I didn't hear you come in the front door." He said the last part a little accusingly, swaying in his seat. Yassen watched Alex closely, speculating silently. This struck Alex as a little odd and he struggled to figure out what that meant, his thoughts were disjointed and he felt more daring then the situation warranted.

"I'm able to be silent when I wish…" Yassen shrugged. "What were you doing in the kitchen anyway?"

Alex swallowed; he got a feeling that the question was a trick.

"I told you, I was hungry and-"

Yassen shook his head sharply and leaned forward slightly.

"No! What were you doing in here, really?"

Alex squeezed his eyes shut, his head suddenly ached and the question made him feel oddly stressed.

'_My head really hurts… I don't know how to answer Yassen…maybe I'll just tell him the truth, he might not mind I looked at his stuff…' Alex smiled unsure, and then frowned with widened eyes. 'No! I'd be lucky to escape alive…but he'll know I'm lying…Geez my head hurts…'_

Yassen looked at him curiously.

"Alex?"

Alex then realized why he felt so strange and why his thoughts were so confused.

'_He lied! There was something in the soup! …why would Yassen do that? He doesn't want to hurt me…'_

Alex gave moan and shook his head like an animal trying to rid itself of a fly. Yassen looked a little concerned now and stood. He moved around the table to where Alex sat with his eyes clenched shut.

"Alex?! Are you alright?" The Russian sounded worried; he grabbed him by the shoulder.

Alex tried to nod and make an excuse up, but somehow, his muscles wouldn't obey him. He found himself shaking his head and speaking.

"Who's the mole in MI6 and who's Hienler?" He asked, opening his eyes. Yassen took a step back and pursed his lips angrily.

"So you did read the files, I thought you did." He said voice full of a soft anger. Alex nodded and opened his mouth to speak. He found words wouldn't come though, the pain in his head intensified and a feeling of nausea suddenly gripped his stomach. His neck itched painfully and when he stood, he found he couldn't support himself. Alex fell to his knee's and threw up weakly.

"Alex! Hold on, let me look at you!" Yassen's voice seemed far away. Alex curled into the foetal position, clutching his stomach. Yassen crouched next to him and quickly took his pulse. As he took his hands away, the Russian noted a lump and rash on Alex's neck.

"Alex, I need you to listen to me! I think you've had an allergic reaction to both of the drugs I gave you!"

Alex bit his lip to choke of a cry as his stomach and head throbbed in unison. Somewhere, deep down, he clung on to rational thought.

"You said you hadn't poisoned the soup…" He moaned, opening his eyes to glare furiously at Yassen. The Russian looked a little abashed.

"Technically, I didn't lie…the drug wasn't a poison, it was meant to work as a sort of truth serum…" Yassen helped Alex into a standing position. The boy nearly collapsed again, he felt like all his strength had deserted him and he legs were too weak to support him. As his body reacted to the drugs that were effectively incapacitating him, Alex felt a tremor of fear ran through him. A girl from school who was allergic to penicillin had accidentally taken the substance during lunch and died in hospital that same day. It had been sad, but not frightening. Now, as he underwent a similar reaction, Alex remembered this and felt himself speaking again involuntarily.

"I think I'm going to die…" he said weakly. Yassen managed to hoist Alex up and walked him awkwardly to the couch. Alex felt Yassen tense at his words.

"I don't think so; I can give you some medications…" The Russian trailed off thinking as he helped Alex onto the couch. "Actually, I don't think I will…" he corrected himself. Alex felt disbelief fight the pain and nausea in him. Yassen was going to let him die from an allergic reaction to the drugs he'd administered.

"No! Please! I thought you would never hurt me… is this payback for my Dad?!" Alex cried, panic overrunning him. Yassen froze at these words.

"Your Father? What about him?" Yassen asked eyes and voice confused. Alex gulped, he'd said the first thing that came to mind and it had been a possibly fatal mistake. It seemed Yassen didn't actually know the truth that Alex had discovered about his Father, John Rider.

"N-nothing…" He stammered, backing away a little. Yassen grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"No Alex! What about your Father?!" he snapped, expression cold and hard. Alex thought he'd been scared before, but now he truly felt terrified.

"He…He wasn't really with Scorpia! He worked for MI6 and don't tell me that that was just a cover because Blunt and Jones told me otherwise!" Alex cringed, half expecting Yassen to hit him. When nothing happened, he managed to look Yassen in the eye. The man released his hold on him and stared at Alex, looking bewildered and, to Alex's surprise, a little hurt.

"They… They said John worked for them?" Yassen asked slowly, as if he couldn't quite believe it. Alex nodded, still scared. Yassen noted that and took a step back from him.

"You thought I'd try to seek some sort of revenge on you because of that?"

Alex nodded again and looked away. Yassen's expression softened and he crouched by the couch and looked Alex in the eye.

"Julia Rothman many have tried to kill you, but I told you on Air Force One that I'd never harm you. I wasn't lying Alex, I wouldn't try to poison you or kill you because of your Father."

Alex clenched his eyes shut for a moment as his head gave a throb and answered.

"Then why aren't you giving me medicine? I can't stand feeling like my head's going to spilt open!"

Yassen sighed and stood.

"I want to help, but there's a problem… I don't think this is an allergic reaction after all."

Alex stared at the Russian. "What is it then?!"

Yassen frowned slightly. "I think the drugs were contaminated…poisoned…I don't know if the rest of my supplies are safe; I can't do anything for you."

Alex moaned and put a hand out.

"Give me your gun."

Yassen stared at him, obviously not understanding. "What?"

Alex opened his eyes and glared at the man. "Give me the gun! there's no way I can take a whole day or more of this. My way is much quicker."

Yassen took a step back and glared back.

"I really hope you're joking! I didn't go to the trouble to revive you and drag you here for you to go shoot yourself when things turn a little nasty."

Alex gaped, and then winced.

"Nasty?! This is more then-"

He threw up again and slumped in his seat, wiping his mouth.

"Never mind…I don't even have the energy to do it now…" He muttered. Yassen snorted and left the room, calling over his shoulder,

"I'm afraid I can't do anything for you… try to sleep, you'll heal faster."

As Alex lay down, he curled up.

'_I don't care what he did for me…I really hate that guy sometimes…' _

Sleep was a long time coming and when his body finally gave in to unconsciousness, Alex's slumber was restless and he woke up once to see Yassen standing with his back to him, facing a blazing fire. Then, Alex shivered and fell asleep again.


	17. Prison Break

**Chapter 14, Prison Break**

Alex's feet were freezing.

'_Come to think of it…I'm freezing full stop…'_

He woke slowly, sitting up and looking around. The fire was on it's lowest setting and at some point, Yassen must have put a blanket on him because a thick blanket lay scrunched up on the ground. Faint sounds of typing came from the kitchen.

'_So Yassen's in the kitchen…'_ Alex had no intention to stay anywhere near Yassen, as soon as he got back to camp he was calling MI6. Operation Winter Liberty was a screw-up and he wanted no part in it. The only difficulty was getting past Yassen, Alex didn't feel sick anymore, but he still felt weak and hungry. The sunlight streaming through the windows was a little distracting as well.

'_Maybe if I just make a run for it… Yassen still thinks I'm out cold, I'll have the advantage of surprise…'_

Maybe it was just a result of recovering from illness, but Alex felt quite pleased with himself for coming up with a good idea. Slowly, and very quietly, he stood. Yassen noticed straight away.

"Alex? You've obviously healed then…I told you you'd get better."

Alex didn't respond, he gave the front door a stealthy glance and flicked his gaze back to Yassen.

"Alex?"

Alex ran. He sprinted for the door, the sound of Yassen following close behind. The door was unlocked and opened easily. However, as soon as Alex stepped outside, he was blinded. It had snowed heavily whilst he'd been unconscious and the sun turned the field of snow surrounding the house into a solid blast of white light. Alex threw his hands up to shield his face just as two things happened. First, Yassen's hands closed in a vice like grip around his forearm, yanking him to the side of the door. Second, there was a sharp _crack_, and a bullet buried itself where Alex and Yassen had been standing mere seconds before. Yassen threw Alex through the front door and slammed it behind them. A second crack and a shuddering of the door marked another bullets impact. Stunned from hitting the tiled floor, Alex stood dizzily. The sharp blow that hit him across the face didn't help. Blinking to clear his vision, Alex backed up a few feet. Yassen stood before him, eyes glinting menacingly. It was him who'd hit him and Alex's burning face attested that.

"I told you that you weren't leaving." The Russian said coldly, half snarling.

Alex gulped, his little prison break had just complicated things greatly.


	18. Unfortunate Circumstances

**Chapter 15, Unfortunate Circumstances**

Yassen grabbed Alex by the arm again and dragged him into the kitchen. He practically threw him into a chair and stood across from him. Alex winced and rubbed his arm, bruises were already appearing where the Russian's hand had gripped him.

"That really hurt!" he muttered, not looking Yassen in the eye. The Russian glared at Alex.

"After that little stunt of yours, you deserve it!" he snapped. "I already said you weren't leaving and I meant it!

Alex gaped openly at Yassen.

"You don't tell me what to do!" He snarled, "You're 'dead' for a year, then pop up randomly and then expect me to be all obedient?!"

Yassen narrowed his eyes angrily. "I expect you to at least listen to me when I'm doing something for your own good!"

The Russian suddenly winced and sat down at the table. Alex's furious retort died at this.

"Are you alright?" Alex asked cautiously, Yassen looked pained and he was rubbing his chest. Yassen looked up at his question.

"I'm fine…" he snapped. He didn't stand though. Alex felt annoyed at being blown off so abruptly.

"No you're not! If you get to worry about my health, then I get to worry about yours! If you drop dead or something, then I'm screwed as well!" Alex said heatedly, crossing his arms stubbornly. For a moment, Yassen stared at him and Alex though he'd crossed some sort of line. Then, the Russian dropped his glare and took his hand away from his chest. He gave a rueful nod in Alex's direction.

"You're right…I'm not fine. The only reason I'd tell you what's wrong is because you'll know what I'm talking about…"

Alex felt a little confused and it must have shown. Yassen gave a wry smile.

"I think you'll understand if I tell you everything from the beginning."

Alex nodded slowly. "It'd help."

Yassen begun after a moment. "After I was shot on Air Force One, MI6 arrived pretty quickly. You were dragged off and probably didn't wonder what happened to me. Technically, I was still alive then, although my heartbeat was going to stop in moments…"

Alex stayed silent, waiting for Yassen to go on.

"One of the agents that came on the plane was a medic and knew I was still alive. He had no idea who I was, just that I was about to die. So, much to my luck, he revived me and told his superiors about me. Blunt was there at the time and was thrilled, I guess the idea of having me prisoner was something of a dream come true. Still unconscious, I was transported to an MI6 clinic. After surgery, I woke to find I was alive, if heavily guarded."

Alex had a question. "If you were guarded, why aren't you in prison or something?"

Yassen seemed to struggle with his answer for a moment. Then, he gave a short laugh.

"Ever seen the James Bond movie, Die Another Day, specifically the scene with him recovering in the MI6 clinic?" he asked.

Alex stared at him, not sure wether to laugh or not.

"Yes…" he said slowly.

Yassen smiled awkwardly and elaborated. "That should give you a clue as to how I escaped, although my experience involved a lot more shooting, at me of course, and I didn't have the convenience of a hotel waiting for me."

Alex couldn't help it, he gave an amused laugh. Then, once he calmed down, he motioned for Yassen to go on.

"I may have guaranteed my freedom from MI6, but at a price. I had no idea, but I was due for another surgery before being carted off to prison. Because I left before then, some of the damage from being shot was never repaired."

Alex felt a reluctant stab of sympathy for the man, after being shot himself; he knew what it was like to feel the residual effects of the wound. Yassen seemed to guess Alex's thoughts, he nodded in his direction.

"I heard about the Scorpia sniper, I have to say, I was glad you weren't killed."

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks…I have a question though: if you escaped, shouldn't MI6 be after you?"

Yassen smiled genuinely. "Good question. Not long after I got into contact with some people I know, I had a bright idea. I faked my own death; I made it look like I was involved in a shootout."

Alex scowled a little.

"That's why you won't let me leave, because you think I'd tell MI6 you're still alive?" He asked sourly. Yassen nodded and stood, walking into the kitchen and getting himself a glass of water.

"That's half of it."

Alex stood as well and stretched.

"What about those 'people' you mentioned? Shouldn't you be worried about them giving your little secret away?" he asked, smug at pointing out Yassen's mistake. The Russian shook his head, taking a sip of the water.

"Why not? They might try to sell you out."

Yassen put the glass down. "That can't do that because they're dead Alex."

Alex started and narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" he asked suspiciously, disgust written all over his face. Yassen frowned and refilled his glass. "Don't be so naive Alex, I couldn't leave them alive, they were liabilities!"

Alex snorted and looked away for a moment.

"What's the other half of the reason you won't let me leave?"

Yassen raised an eyebrow.

"The sniper watching the house of course. That and the fact that half of Liberty is looking for you, there's a reward for whoever kills you."

Alex found himself backing away from the Russian at these words. Yassen noticed and folded his arms.

"How many times do I have to say this? You can trust me Alex."

Alex shook his head.

"No. I don't trust anyone or anything, you least of all right now." He said, glowering. Yassen looked offended, but merely said,

"Fine. I didn't hire the sniper and didn't know the medicine was poisoned. If you don't want to trust me even though I've done my best to keep you alive, then that's your decision."

Alex fought to keep his temper.

"Yes it's my decision! Just like it's my decision if I want to leave this place! I don't care if there's a sniper out there, I'll figure something out. You can't keep me here."

Yassen shot him a sarcastic look.

"You really don't understand do you? You're still very sick and even if I let you go out there, you wouldn't have the strength or speed to get past the sniper. Besides, MI6 would love to find out where I am. I don't intend to give them that pleasure and that means taking care of loose ends which also means you go nowhere."

Alex folded his arms and scowled at the Russian.

"Fine. What exactly are you going to do with me then? You won't be working here forever, you'll have to release me eventually and then you know as well as I do the first thing I'll do is tell MI6 you're alive and kicking. There won't be a moment's peace for you ever again."

Yassen gave an exasperated sigh and sat back down. He opened his laptop and waited for it to load.

"You want to know something Alex? I have no clue what I'm going to do with you. It's an unfortunate circumstance at best. I do know something though: if you try to leave this house again I will do far worse then put a few bruises on your arm.' He said, starting to type on his laptop. After a few moments, he was busy writing something and ignoring the 15 year old boy completely. Alex stared incredulously.

_There is no way he can possibly think I'm finished with him yet! There is no way Yassen's going to ignore me like that! _He though angrily. Feeling incensed, he picked up the Russian's half finished glass of water and dropped it from shoulder height. The glass shattered against the tiled floor, exploding into dagger like fragments and spinning droplets of water. Yassen looked up with narrowed eyes and gave a grunt.

"You really don't know when to just shut up and leave well enough alone, do you Alex?" he said annoyed.

"I do, but I tend to think that courtesy doesn't apply to murderous assassins." Alex countered. Yassen laughed wryly and closed his laptop.

"Alright fine, what do you want?"

Alex thought for a moment.

"You kept saying you'd always keep your promise, yet you're constantly threatening me. Well, I don't think you'd have the courage to do anything to me, what on earth could you do?"

Yassen's gaze darkened. "I do hope you're not implying you expect any sort of leniency from me. I'd be more then happy to break both of your legs if that's what it takes to keep you here."

Alex felt a shot of fear run through him, but tried not show it.

"I thought you said you'd never harm me. Wouldn't breaking both my legs count as harming me?"

Yassen smirked. "Normally yes, but in this case I think I'd be justified in harming you. It'd be for your own good."

Alex gaped furiously at the Russian.

"My own good?! How the hell can that be for my own good?!"

Yassen sighed as if explaining the painfully obvious. "Because if you go outside, you'll definitely be killed. Meanwhile, if I break your legs, you may be in pain, but at least I know you won't be shot by anyone. You could say it's the lesser of two evils."

Alex suddenly got the feeling that Yassen was becoming increasingly tempted to do as he was threatening. He swallowed his pride and said,

"T-there won't be any need to do that, I'll stay here. And I won't argue anymore…"

Yassen smiled coldly. "Good, we'll get along much better that way."

Alex shot the Russian a quick glance. "That doesn't mean I'm going to be doing any sort of bonding or anything, I'm still tempted to finish what I started in Marseilles. You killed my Uncle, so it only seems fair I have a decent shot at killing you."

Yassen shrugged, amused. "Of course, but let me tell you this: many more people then you'd probably believe have tried killing me and failed. I very much doubt I have anything to fear from you. Besides, you said it yourself: if I die, you're in trouble as well."

There was an awkward silence that stretched uncomfortably long. Then, Alex stirred and asked,

"Do I get to maintain a good sense of hygiene or not? I would sort of appreciate a shower…"

Yassen nodded from where he'd re-opened his laptop. "That's fine, the shower is upstairs. I thought you'd want to wash, so I left the bag of your stuff up there. I took the liberty of bringing your clothes from your campsite."

Alex snorted and left the kitchen. After climbing the first few stairs, he was forced to admit Yassen was right about one thing: there was no way he'd be able to escape the sniper whilst he was this weak, climbing a few stairs had left him dizzy. Alex leaned against the wall, resting for a moment. Yassen's voice floated up to him.

"Are you alright? You're taking a long time to walk up those stairs."

Alex cursed and stood hastily, jogging tiredly up the rest of the flight.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he called down, trying to convince himself his gasping for air wasn't audible. The silence from the lower floor of the house told Alex that the Russian was satisfied with his answer. Breathing out in relief, Alex sunk into a sitting position and tried to get his breath back. After a few moments, he stood again and walked into the nearby bathroom. Like the rest of the house, it was so bare it looked unused. Alex felt saw his travel bag lying on the blue tiled floor and unzipped it. All his clothes were in there, but all his gadgets had been removed and presumably left at the clearing. Sighing, Alex turned to the shower. He hesitated as his hand curled around the knob for the hot water; it felt odd disturbing everything from its state of perpetual neatness. Then he shrugged and turned the hot water on as hard as it would go. Within moments, the small bathroom was flooded with steam and Alex was enjoying a hot shower, washing himself of the sticky feeling of wearing the same outfit several days in a row. The pleasure was short lived though, before long, Alex felt the water begin to lose its warmth. Sighing regretfully, he turned the water off and quickly dressed in a new outfit. Re-zipping the bag, he dragged it out of the now damp bathroom. He dumped it in the middle of the hallway and walked downstairs, making as much noise as possible. Yassen looked up as he walked into the kitchen. Alex ignored the Russian and walked to one of the wall mounted cupboards. Opening it, he rummaged inside, looking for something to eat. After a brief search he discovered bread and some cheese along with a plate and sharp knife. He began to make a sandwich, knife clanging against the plate nosily as he cut the block of cheese into thick slices. Once his sandwich was ready, Alex brought it over to the table. As he lifted the plate though, he slipped the knife into one of the inside pockets of his jacket. Yassen didn't look up as he ate the sandwich rapidly, fingers drumming a rhythm on the table surface. Once he was finished, Alex picked his plate up again and put it in the sink. He then proceeded to wash it loudly; the tap turned on it's hardest. As Alex 'accidentally' banged the plate against the countertop, Yassen gave a sigh and looked up.

"it won't work you know." He said, eyebrows raised. Alex matched his mild expression.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

Yassen smiled sarcastically. "You know perfectly well what I mean. Making lots of noise and generally acting immaturely won't work; I'm willing to keep my temper as long as necessary. Nothing you do will convince me to let you go and another little prison break won't work either, I've locked and alarmed the doors and windows. Besides, I don't think you've forgotten the sniper outside the house?"

Alex stared at the man for a moment.

"I really hate you." He muttered and put the plate back in the cupboard roughly. Yassen smiled condescendingly. "I wouldn't expect anything less. However, whilst you're in this house, feel free to put your stuff in the bedroom across from the bathroom."

Alex laughed wryly and went back upstairs. Putting the bag in the room, he lay on the narrow bed and stared at the roof, feeling hard done by. For some odd reason, a famous movie line came to mind.

'_Life's a box of chocolates…you never know what you're gonna get…"_ he thought. Then, _'Damn did Gump get that right.'_


	19. Interesting

**Chapter 16, Interesting**

Lying on the narrow, but comfortable enough bed, Alex felt fatigue settle on him. He tried to resist it as long as possible; he still didn't feel safe in this house, no matter what Yassen had promised him. The sharp point of the knife jabbed Alex through his jacket pocket, bringing momentary comfort; at least he had some sort of method of defence, no matter how rudimentary. The waves of weariness washed over him again and once more Alex shook himself.

'_No way am I falling asleep again! Yassen is dangerous and may still act on his threats…if he can get by on a mere four hours of sleep a day, so can I! I am __**not**__ going to fall aslee…' _

Alex stirred what felt like minutes later and saw that nearly an entire day had passed by the digital clock on the bedside drawers.

'_A whole day?! Geez I hate being sick like this, I can't even stay awake longer then a few hours at a time!'_

Alex sprung out of bed and hurried over to the door. He nearly yelped in shock as Yassen was revealed on the other side, reaching for the doorknob.

"What're you doing?!" he cried, nearly choking as his breath of air was used up in the shout. Yassen jumped back at the same time, rubbing his chest.

"You startled me as well…" the Russian muttered darkly. Then, he shook himself and Alex noticed the man had a slightly harried appearance about him.

"What happened to you?" he asked, sneering slightly. Yassen scowled before answering.

"I tried going outside a couple of times while you were sleeping. The sniper was still there last time I checked."

Alex felt his mood sink a little further. "Oh…that's bad…"

Yassen glared at him. "How eloquent: "oh, that's bad." You'd think that a person as 'talented' as you would be able to come up with something a bit better."

Alex met the Russian's gaze. _'Geez, he's in a bad mood today. I would have hated to have been the one taking care of him in the clinic, the man must have been homicidal…at least, more so then usual.'_

Just then, the hostile silence was broken by a quiet gurgling noise: Alex's stomach. Yassen suddenly relaxed, laughing a little.

"Hungry?"

Alex blinked and half nodded. "Uh, yeah…"

Yassen gestured down the stairs. "Food then. I have no clue what you eat, but there's bread and some sort of Polish cereal downstairs. Feel free to eat it all, I tried the cereal, it tastes horrible."

Following the man downstairs and into the tiled kitchen, Alex gave a grunt.

"Thanks…I guess…"

The options for food were already on the table; Alex buttered himself a thick slab of bread and devoured it quickly. Tasting the cereal in the gray box, Alex quickly gagged on the dry, flavourless flakes. Swallowing furiously, he turned to find Yassen. After a quick look around, the Russian was spotted standing by the window over the sink, staring at something outside.

"Huh, that's interesting…" Yassen murmured, half to himself. Alex stood and walked over.

"What's interesting?" he asked curiously, peering out the window.

"That." Yassen pointed across the window to a point approximately 4 metres away from the front door of the house. Following the gesture, Alex felt his heart catch in his throat. A trail of vivid red liquid led from the woods surrounding the clearing the house was in to the spot Yassen pointed to. There, the source of the crimson was revealed. A body lay in a puddle of half melted snow and partly coagulated blood, sun glinting off of the metallic object in its grip. Alex gasped and quickly glanced over at Yassen.

"That's your idea of 'interesting'?!" he almost yelled, "There's a body on your front lawn and you call it '_INTERESTING_'?!"

Yassen looked at Alex mildly. "Yes, we obviously have different ideas of what's remarkable. Besides, I was more referring to the fact that this 'body' is still alive and seems to be a person of your age."

Alex quickly stared back at the body. Indeed, Yassen was right. He could see the faint rising and falling of the person's body in time with shallow breaths. Then, suddenly, Alex recognized the body. The blonde hair and slim build all registered abruptly and in more ways then one. Alex suddenly knew why he'd felt so suspicious of this person on their first day at Brookland. Breathing in rapidly, Alex wheeled away from the window, leaning against the countertop. Yassen turned as well and looked at him with faint consternation.

"Are you alright?" the Russian asked curiously.

Alex shook his head hard and managed to spit out the words that wanted so badly to be free.

"I-I… I know her..." He rasped.

Yassen frowned and looked back over at the body.

"Excuse me? You said her?"

Alex closed his eyes weakly and said,

"Her name's Erin and I thin you should know her."


	20. Greetings of a Sort

**Chapter 17, Greetings of a sort**

Yassen stared at Alex like he was mad.

"I should know her?" The Russian asked slowly.

Alex jerked his head in a non-committal way. "Yes…No…I don't know, I have an idea…" he trailed off, unsure what to say.

'_It's funny, I only really thought of it looking at Erin right now, but it makes so much sense. but no matter how logical, it's a dangerous claim to make and if I'm wrong or he takes it badly, Yassen may just wrap me up in a straight-jacket and dump me in the river…' _

Yassen was growing impatient with the teen.

"Well, which is it? Yes or No?!" he demanded, looking between the window and Alex. The boy swallowed and shook himself.

"Look, never mind what I was saying!" he snapped, "Point is, if we leave her out there, Erin will die!"

Yassen didn't lift his gaze from Alex. "What's your point?" He asked curiously.

Alex gaped at the Russian, aghast. "Point?! My point is we need to go get her!!!"

Yassen shrugged. "I don't feel particularly inclined to do that, actually, I think it'd be better for me if we left her out there."

Alex's temper finally burst out of the tightly controlled corner of his mind he'd been keeping it in. He lashed out at Yassen with a ferocious karate kick, managing to hit a glancing blow. The man moved aside much more quickly then Alex thought possible, avoiding the worst of the blow. Before Alex could react though, he was slammed up against the wall with a very angry Yassen glaring at him.

"That was a _very_ stupid thing to do little Alex." The Russian said softly, menace trickling from his words. Alex winced at his impact with the brick wall, stars winking at him, and squirmed uselessly against Yassen's unbreakable hold.

"Let me go." He said, managing to corral his temper back into the corner of his mind. Yassen merely pushed Alex against the wall harder, causing the boy's ribs to let out a spurt of protest.

"I don't think so." The man shook his head and glared at him.

"Let me go…please?" Alex attempted, hoping that Yassen would relax. He was wrong; the Russian suddenly threw him to the ground roughly and waited for him to stand before saying,

"I've been patient so far, but you crossed a line there. I don't appreciate being attacked like that and I don't think you will either."

Before Alex could ask what the last part of that statement meant, something slammed viciously into the side of him, nearly knocking him right off his feet. Hastily shaking his head clear of the buzz that accompanied the blow, Alex backed off and stared at his attacker. Yassen stood approximately a metre and half from him in what Alex immediately recognized as a karate stance. The man looked almost tranquil, standing so still there. Then, his foot swung out, crashing into Alex's torso. Gasping for breath, Alex nearly cried out in pain as one of his ribs gave a crack. Knocked over, he quickly scrambled away from Yassen, panicking desperately. He was going to get mince meat made out of him, just a few centimetres higher and the blow would have landed directly over his old sniper wound! Before Alex was fully on his feet again, another blow, from Yassen's fists this time, slammed against his jaw, sending him reeling and tumbling to the floor once more. Too stunned to even get up again, Alex winced as a foot slammed down on his ankle. Writhing frantically to try and free himself, he lashed at Yassen in vain. Another sharp crack punctuated the air and he cried out in pain as he felt his left ankle break. Suddenly, Alex had had enough. All the pointless fighting against the man seemed absurd at this cost and he wanted nothing more then to crawl away and curl up in a ball, safe from pain. He stumbled back and winced as he realized he'd gotten himself trapped in a corner. Alex stood slowly and watched terrified as Yassen advanced on him. The Russian still looked pissed and Alex flinched as he lifted a hand.

"Please…" he begged, disgusted at his own cowardice. Yassen paused and looked askance at him. "Please what?" he asked, a slight smile flickering across his lips. Alex glared at the man; there was no way he was going to be bullied into this! Then, Yassen's eyes narrowed and his hand clenched into a fist and Alex gave a nervous start.

"Please don't hit me again!" he yelped, flinching away from the Russian. Yassen suddenly sighed and relaxed.

"I don't really have the heart to anyway," he said, "I think a broken rib and ankle makes my point amply. Am I right?"

Alex nodded hastily, edging out of the corner gingerly. Breathing hurt and he was forced to hop to avoid his ankle paining him. Yassen held up a finger to stop him.

"Hold on Alex, you still owe me an explanation."

Alex scowled and tried to find a position to stand in that didn't pain him. After a few moments furious jiggling, he gave up and put up with leaning slightly against the wall.

"I don't think I owe you anything, not after that. However, I'll explain if you'll at least let me bring Erin in."

Yassen thought about it for a few seconds.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, the sniper is probably still there and that's a gun in this 'Erin's' hand. You're hardly in a fit state to be dealing with all that." He said eventually. Alex scowled and folded his arms.

"No deal then, you don't get any sort of explanation from me." He snapped. Yassen looked annoyed.

"I will get an explanation because Erin will be fine. I said _you_ couldn't go get her, but I never said anything about me going out there to bring her in." he said, glancing out the window again.

"Oh." Was all Alex could think of an answer, "Thanks?"

Yassen snorted and picked up his gun from where it was lying on the table. "You're lucky I'm a reasonable man, I'll go save her only because it's obvious there's something going on here I don't know about and it's my business to know what's going on."

Before Alex could come up with some sort of snappy retort, the Russian was by the front door, preparing himself to go outside. He turned to face Alex.

"I don't want to be out there any longer then I need to be. Keep the door open and do _not_ come outside, no matter what happens. Got that?"

Alex smirked to himself. "Got it, if you get shot or something I won't feel the need to come rushing to your assistance so no need to worry about me coming outside."

Yassen shot him a look.

"Good." He said coolly.

Without another word, Yassen opened the door and sprinted out into the snow.


	21. Warning

**Chapter 18, Warning **

Alex found himself holding his breath as he watched Yassen run through the snow. He expected to hear the crack of the sniper rifle at any minute and clenched his eyes shut in trepidation. Nightmarish scenarios ran through his head of what could happen until Alex wanted to pass out again. When he finally opened his eyes, Alex was surprised to see the Russian crouching by Erin's inert body unharmed and looking oddly relaxed.

'_What is he doing?' _Alex wondered,_ 'he's taking forever out there…' _

After what seemed an age, Yassen stood and motioned for Alex to come out.

'…_do __**not**__ come outside, no matter what happens…'_ the man had been very clear in his instructions, yet now he was asking him to come out. Alex shook his head hard and backed up a step. Yassen glared and motioned again and once more, Alex refused. Then, the Russian pulled out his gun. He touched it to Erin's head and shot a questioning glance in his direction. Alex shook his head furiously and held up his hands.

"No! Don't do it!" He yelled, disregarding the fact his voice might alert enemies. Yassen raised an eyebrow before beckoning once more. Alex bared his teeth furiously and stalked out into the snow. Every step hurt and the uneven ground didn't help, so he just concentrated on walking. The crunch of his footsteps over the snow was oddly hypnotic and before he knew it, Alex was standing in front of Erin and Yassen. He didn't even give the Russian time to speak.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed lividly, "You said don't come out and then you go and do something like that?! What the hell is your problem?"

Yassen narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together grimly.

"Didn't I just explain I don't appreciate being attacked, physically _or_ verbally?" he asked coldly. "I don't like to think that your right ankle needs the same treatment as the other."

Alex gave himself a few seconds to bring his temper under control and relaxed.

"Fine… what is going on though? I though you didn't want to be out for long?"

Yassen shrugged and pointed to Erin.

"Circumstances change. Now, I need to get some things ready so you'll need to bring the girl in."

Alex stared.

"She's the same height as me and you expect me to drag her into the house with a broken ankle and rib?!"

Yassen raised an eyebrow.

"I could carry her, but I get the feeling you'd be a lot gentler."

Alex scowled.

"Fine, point taken. Coincidentally, what sort of 'things' do you need?"

The Russian answered cryptically.

"You'll find out shortly, just bring her in."

Without another word, he walked back into the house, leaving Alex with an unconscious Erin.

'_I really hate that guy…I'm beginning to think it would've been better if he'd stayed dead…'_

With a sigh, he stooped and managed to hoist Erin into a standing position, her arm around his shoulders. With gritted teeth, Alex began to limp forward, his ankle screaming in protest. Each step was agony and after a few moments, he was seriously tempted to drop Erin. Then, he took a deep breath in and kept going. After what seemed like an age, he stepped past the front door and stood with Erin leaning against him painfully. Yassen came down the stairs and promptly picked her up and walked back upstairs. Suspicious, Alex followed and saw Yassen walk into the bathroom.

'_What the hell..?' _

Inside, the Russian put Erin on the floor and walked over to the shower. He turned it on as hot as it would go and stretched the hose that the nozzle was mounted on. With a dispassionate expression he aimed it at the unconscious Erin. Immediately, she began to writhe and moan, the hot water burning against her cold body. Within seconds, she was soaked through and Alex shot a look at Yassen.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" He snapped.

Yassen shrugged and switched the water off.

"I have a feeling she's going to go through far worse in the near future."

With that remark, the man grabbed her by the wrists and dragged her to the wall and propped her up in a sitting position. Alex took a breath in as Erin began to stir, moans forming into more intelligible sounds. Suddenly, she gasped and her eyes flew open. She coughed up a little water and took in her surroundings. When she caught sight of Yassen she flinched.

"Shit." She muttered hoarsely. Then she passed out again. Alex looked at the Russian curiously. He shrugged.

"I get that reaction a lot." He said coolly. Then, he left the room, leaving Alex staring at Erin in disbelief for a moment. Then, Yassen reappeared carrying a metal briefcase. He crouched next to Erin and put it down on the tiled floor with a slight clunk. The Russian flicked open the catches and pulled out some smelling salts. He snapped them under Erin's nose and she came to with a violent shudder.

"Arghh… wha..?" She slurred, opening her eyes again. Once more, she looked around. She sighed when she saw Alex and Yassen in front of her.

"You couldn't just leave my unconscious could you?" she asked vaguely, voice sleepy. Then, she gave a cry as the pain from her bullet wound suddenly reasserted itself. Yassen leaned forward and pulled the gun out of her grip. Alex jumped and started to protest, but the Russian narrowed his eyes and shook his head just once. Yassen turned to face Erin who was eyeing the weapon in his hand with trepidation.

"I'm going to ask some questions and you are going to answer them fully and truthfully." Yassen said quietly. Erin glared and spat.

"Go to hell." She rasped. Yassen didn't respond, he merely put the gun against her bullet wound and pushed hard. Erin gave a cry and tried to back up but found herself propped up against the wall. Yassen didn't move, but asked,

"Are you going to cooperate now?"

Erin managed to growl an answer between cries of pain.

"I'm…Not…telling…You…Any…Thing!" she snarled, involuntary tears shining in her eyes. Yassen stared coldly at her for a moment. Alex swallowed and stepped in.

"What are you doing?!" he asked the Russian horrified, "I didn't ask to bring her in for this!"

Yassen waved him off and faced Erin again. "If I give you something for the pain, will you cooperate?"

Erin clenched her fists desperately and gave a half nod.

"Maybe…" she trailed off into an agonised moan. Yassen took the gun away and pulled something else from the briefcase. It was a needle with some sort of liquid already in it. Alex stared disbelievingly, the excruciating affects of the 'harmless' injection came flooding to mind. He lunged forward and tried to take it off of Yassen, but the man simply threw him to the ground with one hand and quickly stabbed the needle into Erin's neck. She stiffened for a moment and flinched slightly as it was withdrawn. Alex stared aghast.

"No! Did you forget what that did to me?! You've just poisoned her!"

Erin's eyes widened and she put a hand to her neck.

"What the hell do you mean…poisoned?!" she half shrieked, trying to stand. Before she even got half way up though, her gun was in Yassen's hand again and aimed level with her head.

"Sit down." The Russian said coldly. The girl did so, eyes never leaving the weapon. Once she was seated on the cold, tiled floor again, he spoke.

"Yes, poisoned." He addressed both Alex and Erin at once. "You weren't being cooperative so I'm resorting to less pleasant measures." The last part was addressed to Erin and she knew it. She bit her lip and put a hand to the spot where the needle had injected her.

"What do you want?" she asked, half terrified, half furious. Yassen raised an eyebrow at her.

"So you're listening now?"

Erin gave a shudder and nodded. Yassen put the gun away and Alex shook himself, something had just made him realize that there was a way that he could stop the Russian from harming Erin. It was risky and most probably would get him injured or worse, but it could work with a little luck.

"I told you before that I was going to ask some questions and I meant it. If you do not answer fully and truthfully, I will leave you locked in this room. The poison will kill you in less then 20 minutes so I suggest you talk fast. Understand?"

Erin closed her eyes for a moment and nodded.

"Good. Tell me, who employed you and what were your mission parameters?" Yassen asked. Erin shook her head once and folded her arms. Yassen smiled coldly and didn't blink when the girl gave a sudden groan. Erin trembled slightly and gripped her chest, obviously pained.

"The burning should have started by now. Looking at you, I know it has." The Russian said quietly. Standing behind him, Alex clenched his teeth and reached inside his jacket very slowly. Erin didn't say anything, so Yassen watched as she began to gasp for air and moan.

"The poison is fast acting. It targets your central nervous system, it tells all your major organs to shut down. Your lungs will stop working and you will suffocate before your heart shuts down. It will be a painful experience I'm afraid." The man continued. Erin clenched her fists and spat out an answer.

"MI6 employed me! They told me that…" She trailed off, eyes distant for a moment whilst her fists unclenched slowly. Yassen leaned forward and slapped her across the face.

"They told you what?" he asked as Erin snapped to.

"They told me that someone needed to be killed, but they never told me who…" she whispered weakly. Yassen snorted.

"Oddly enough, that doesn't seem like much of an excuse to me." The Russian muttered. Then he faced Erin again.

"Is there anyone else still out there?" he asked.

Erin didn't answer so Yassen sighed.

"I'm going to leave if you do not answer me." He warned. Erin didn't respond, her lips were turning blue and she was shaking her head frantically. Nothing but choked gasps came out of her.

"She can't answer!" Alex yelled, "She's suffocating so she can't speak!"

Yassen glanced over at him.

"You'd be surprised what a person can do when motivated properly." He said mildly. Alex stared at the man horrified.

"Stop! You're going to kill her!" he demanded as Erin writhed on the ground. Yassen closed the metal briefcase with a click.

"Well, it will be her own fault. I gave her the opportunity to save her own life." He shrugged and began to stand. Before he could though, Alex pulled the object in his jacket pocket out. It was the knife he'd kept from making the sandwich. As fearlessly as he could manage, he pressed it to Yassen's throat. The Russian stiffened but otherwise didn't react.

"I wondered why you kept your hand in your jacket the entire time." He said, as if the matter was of no importance to him. On the ground, Erin's jerking had lessened and she was lying almost completely still on the ground. The shallow breathes she took in were the only evidence that she was still alive. Alex noted that with a grim face.

"Fix what you did to her…now!" he snapped, never removing the knife. Yassen gave a grunt and re-opened the briefcase.

"It seems I don't have much of a choice in the matter." He said, removing a different needle. Alex suddenly thought of something.

"How do I know that won't just kill her outright?" he asked suspiciously. Yassen shrugged. "You don't know, you can easily stop me from giving this to her. If you do though, Erin will die in less then five minutes, it's your choice."

Alex inwardly groaned, why were these sort of decisions always thrust upon him? With a scowl he agreed.

"Fine, give it to her. Just know, if you've done something to her, I'll slit your throat." He was surprised by how coldly the words came out. Yassen shrugged and gave the injection to Erin.

"I wouldn't kill her anyway. She should know that, although Erin always was prone to dramatics…"

Alex nearly dropped the knife in surprise. He started to ask what that was supposed to mean, but was interrupted as Erin woke, spluttering wheezily. She sat up weakly and surveyed the other two. Her gaze rested on Yassen.

"And people wonder why I haven't seen or spoken to you in almost a year and a half?" she asked sarcastically. Yassen merely shrugged again and packed everything up, choosing to let Alex ask his burning questions.

"So you know each other?!" He demanded, very confused. Erin gave him an appraising look.

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

Alex made a face and considered, he got the feeling that things would complicate themselves very quickly if he voiced his theory.

_Still, I'll never find out the truth if I don't ask…_he mused to himself. Then, he looked up.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you two were related…" Alex trailed off, unsure what sort of reaction he would get. Yassen merely raised an eyebrow whilst Erin rolled her eyes and gave a derisive laugh.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! Give the boy a prize!" she shook her head wearily and stood slowly. "I can't believe you didn't figure it out the instant you first saw me!"

Alex blinked; things had _definitely_ just gotten a lot more complicated.


	22. Surprise, your Friends Aren't So Nice

**Chapter 19, Surprise, your friends aren't so nice**

**A/N: sorry for the long wait guys! I got lazy and I am writing something else at the moment (a 24 fanfic and my own original story) so I got a little side-tracked. I'll b good and write more though. I promise! Besides, I made this a long chapter just for you guys!!!**

Alex looked between Erin and Yassen, silently begging for an explanation. After an awkward moment, Erin gave an exasperated sigh.

"Look, it's not that hard. The guy is my Father and that's that. Like I said, it's not a complicated thing to understand."

Alex snorted. "Easy for you to say…" he muttered under his breath.

Yassen heard that and folded his arms.

"I'm beginning to get the feeling that you expect me to be an inhuman monster." He said suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

Alex shrugged.

"After what you just did, most definitely."

Yassen glanced at where Erin was standing up unsteadily.

"I already said I wouldn't really kill her, Erin tends to forget that though. Besides, we haven't spoken or seen one another in almost two years."

"With good reason." Erin interjected, "You're a cold hearted killer!"

Alex gaped at the girl's words. "Like you're any better! What about the Chinese official, or doesn't he count?!"

Yassen's expression darkened and the Russian turned to his daughter. "Is that true, you're a killer?" he asked voice cold and angry.

Erin suddenly looked uneasy, she swallowed hard. "Uh, I guess you could sort of see it that way…"

Yassen looked furious. "I heard rumours of a new freelancer but I was stupid enough to think you'd keep your promise! I told you that I never wanted you involved in my world!"

Alex made a face; he'd heard those words before. For some reason, Yassen had felt the need to protect him from day one. The man's excuse of knowing his Father didn't quite cut it with Alex and he still suspected there was more to it then that.

"Yeah well, too bad, because it's too late for a lecture! I'm involved in your world and you want to know something? I like it here!" Erin half yelled back.

Yassen looked like he was tempted to hit her for a moment, then he relaxed slightly.

"I guess it's your funeral then." He said coldly, "Almost was until Alex convinced me to save you."

That reminded Alex of his other burning question. "Actually, I've been wondering, what happened? How did you get shot?" he asked curiously.

Erin sighed and shook her head. "Can I have something to eat before answering? I'm really hungry…"

Yassen snorted. "Fine, but then you're clearing up everything. You very nearly killed both Alex and I, that's worth some sort of explanation."

Erin nodded sourly and limped out of the room, swearing in another language when she nearly fell down the stairs. Yassen shook his head in disgust at his daughter's incompetence and followed her out. Alex stayed standing where he was, thinking hard.

'_Yassen has a daughter…this is like the twilight zone or something.'_

Then another thing occurred to him.

'_I've been getting too comfortable here; I'm supposed to be on a mission! I need to find a way to get in contact with MI6; they need to know what's happened…'_

Feeling a little dispirited, Alex stooped and picked up the knife from where he'd dropped it on the tiled floor. He weighed it in his hand for a second before putting it back in his jacket pocket. Hopefully Yassen would forget he had it and he'd be able to keep the weapon.

'_After all, it's not like the man's going to leave any guns lying around for me to get my hands on…'_

Yawning, Alex managed to make it downstairs relatively less painfully then before. It was probably a bad thing, but his ankle seemed to have gone numb from being in the cold bathroom for so long. As he walked into the kitchen, Erin looked up from where she seemed to be endeavouring to stuff a sandwich in her mouth whole. She swallowed (with some difficulty) and then looked between him and Yassen with a smirk.

"The two cripples; one with a broken ankle and the other one getting old. How very touching, seems like I'm the only one in decent shape here."

Alex merely flipped her off and sat down at the kitchen table.

"I don't think a bullet wound counts as 'in decent shape', but whatever, just tell us what happened." He said bad temperedly, despite her near brush with death, Erin didn't seemed to have lost her arrogant manner. She gave a dramatic groan and pushed the remainder of the sandwich aside.

"If I must…" she sighed, eyes questioning.

Yassen folded his arms grimly. "Yes you must." He half grunted.

Erin scowled, but bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Alex, this won't be something you'll want to know or even believe." She warned hesitantly.

Alex looked her in the eye and saw she was truly worried about how what she had to say would affect him.

'_Why does Erin worry about me? She hates me…'_ he wondered to himself. Then he shrugged and answered her.

"People have told me things that have hurt me badly; I doubt this will be too bad." He said honestly.

Erin nodded slowly and made a gesture as if to avoid any responsibility for what was to follow.

"MI6 shot me." She said bluntly, avoiding everyone's eye.

Alex thought he'd misheard her.

"Excuse me?"

Erin turned to face him. "MI6 shot me Alex. There I said it, if you want to have a freak out, now's the time." She muttered uneasily.

Yassen glanced at Alex who was staring in disbelief.

"A slightly more specific account of what happened might help, Erin." The Russian said sarcastically.

Erin hung her head and gave a nod.

"You're right. This is what happened…"

_Erin trudged through the waist high snow to her vantage spot in a foul temper. She had been here for a couple of days now and there was no sign of her target. She had a huge arsenal of gear, three lookouts and the support of an entire countries spy agency and still she hadn't managed to complete her job yet. It was ridiculous, Erin spent all day sitting in the snow frozen and stiff, waiting for a man who didn't even seem to be here. With a cranky grunt she tramped the last few metres to the tree she'd chosen for today, a pine with a myriad of notches and stumps left from broken branches all over it hard trunk. All in all, it was a perfect spot for watching something unseen. Erin stood looking at the tree for a moment before jumping up to grab the lowest branch. With a grim face, she hauled herself and the 20 kilos of gear she was carrying up and crouched on the branch. Then, after a brief pause, she gave a grunt and pulled herself up to the next branch and the next until she was two thirds of the way up and had an uninterrupted view of the Liberty facility and anyone who entered or left the buildings. Not that there was much to see, the facility consisted of sprawling grey warehouses, various power stations and a dozen or so prefabricated buildings that resembled tin air hangars. The entire things was surrounded by a double barrier in the form of a 10 foot high barbed wire fence with the only opening being the main entrance and that was guarded by a small barracks on either side and concrete barriers that could be remote controlled to sink below ground. There were five watch towers in the facility, one on each of the four corners and another one that stuck up from the middle of the place. This meant that every spot in the facility could be watched and guarded by at least one of the towers. Yet, for all their technological glory, Liberty had no idea she was here, watching their every move. With a sigh, she switched on her earpiece and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Almost immediately, a voice spoke in her ears. _

"_Recon 1, this is Charlie 3. Do you copy?" _

_Erin sighed; she had never understood the military's obsession with fancy codenames and radio protocol. It was like a bad movie, only the bullets here were real and there was no one coming to get her if she stuffed up. That was why MI6 had employed her, because she had no connection at all to them and she couldn't implicate the British government. This also meant that 'officially' she didn't work for them. Unofficially though…_

"_Yup, I'm here Charlie. And for god's sake cut it out with the codenames!!!" She answered, never taking her eyes off of the facility and never raising her voice above a low murmur. There was an awkward pause on the other line. After awhile, she heard muttering._

"_Damn brat…bad enough with cub…" Erin obviously wasn't meant to hear this, so she grinned to herself and decided to have a little fun._

"_What's that wolfie boy? Did you call me a brat?" she asked, adopting an injured tone. There was an annoyed growl over the line._

"_Never mind that…What is your status Recon?" _

_Erin resisted the urge to roll her eyes (though it was a tough thing), but answered dutifully._

"_I am in position for the day and it's all clear. No activity reported at this time." She said, with a touch of sarcasm. No sooner had the words left her mouth then a small explosion went off on a nearby hillside to the right and an alarm started wailing. The sounds of yells spilt the air and a couple more explosions went off. Erin quickly swivelled in the tree to view the hillside. To her disbelief, a small figure was standing there, dressed in what looked like a cross between camouflage and snow gear. After a second, the figure started sprinting into the woods, heading for cover and desperately trying to avoid being killed at the same time. The earpiece in Erin's left ear erupted at the same time._

"_Recon! Recon, do you read me?!"_

"_Yeah! What the hell was that, what's going on?!" She asked, nearly yelling. Her answer came swiftly._

"_We have no idea what's going on!"_

_Erin suddenly made a snap decision, this was undoubtedly an important event and she was tired of sitting here all day._

"_I'm going in, wait at camp for me!" she snapped, switching the earpiece off before the man on the other end had time to argue. Moving fast, Erin quickly selected some specific items and dropped the unwanted gear bag she'd been carrying. Once she was ready to go, she slid off the branch and dropped all the way to the ground, landing in a crouching position. Erin stood quickly, running a rapid self analysis to ensure she wasn't injured. Once she was satisfied, she took off in the direction of the yells and gunshots that'd replaced the explosions. Erin was fit and naturally fast, so it took less then three minutes to approach the chase. Suddenly, the sound of barking echoed through the woods and Erin froze. Barking meant dogs, and that was very bad. Dogs could pick her scent up and track her almost anywhere. Dogs had senses sharper then any human's, it would be hard to match that. Anyway, dogs scared the shit out of Erin, she'd been bitten as a toddler and the scar hadn't faded with time. For a second, she seriously considered running away, but then her stubborn nature pushed through. No! She would not back out now, not when she was so close. Erin slowed to a jog, there was a spot ahead bordered by a river that could be either an ambush or the perfect spot to watch unseen. It would pay to be cautious anyway, Erin had no idea if the person being chased was friend or foe. The spot was less then 10 feet away now, just beyond a line of thick brush. She crept up to the very edge of it and crouched behind a fallen tree. Peering through the tangle of dead branches, she caught sight of a figure wading across the river and diving beneath a bush. A split second later, several people emerged from the trees on the other side of the river, obviously looking for whoever it was under the bush. The German Shepard's they were leading caused a slight squeak to escape Erin's lips, but otherwise, she stayed crouching in the snow and listening. She was too far away to make out specifically what the men were saying, so she concentrated on watching carefully. After a couple of minutes, they seemed to reach some sort of agreement and they turned back. As they did so though, one of them cast an expectant sort of look over his shoulder. Erin could've sworn he gave a slight nod before following his comrades back into the woods. _

'_What was that all about…?' She wondered to herself._

_A split second later, her answer came. A man suddenly emerged a mere couple of metres to her left. Before Erin could so much as blink, the man delivered a stinging blow to the other figure's head as it he scrambled out from underneath the bush. Even in the space of a few seconds, Erin could see it was a one sided fight. Whoever the man was, he was stronger, faster and much more prepared then his victim. Before long, it seemed it was all over, the man had the other in a stranglehold and she could see the victim thrashing decreasing gusto. Just when Erin thought she'd seen the end though, something odd happened. The smaller figure's ski mask was torn off and immediately the man let go of him. _

"_Alex!" the man yelled._

_Erin stiffened in her hiding spot. Something was going on here; Alex was involved and the two people knew each other. It was obvious by the way the man was frantically checking the other's vitals that mistaken identity had caused an error here. Thinking quickly, Erin withdrew into the woods a little. She needed to report this back._

Alex rubbed the still sore side of his head.

"That did hurt you know." He grunted sourly, directing the comment at Yassen.

The Russian merely shrugged.

"Just be thankful I didn't break your neck. Anyway, that still doesn't explain how you got yourself shot Erin." He said, looking unimpressed. "I hope you have another part to this story?"

Erin rolled her eyes (a habit of hers that was beginning to annoy both Alex and Yassen).

"Of course I do…"

_Later that evening, when Erin got back into camp, two of the three in her team were already around a fire, making dinner. They barely glanced up as she stalked into the circle of light around the fire. She scowled and stomped in front of them._

"_Where the hell is Wolf?!" she demanded angrily._

Alex started.

"Wait, Wolf's involved in this?" he asked incredulously.

Erin nodded grumpily. "Yea, he was the leader of my team. We hated each other from the start…"

Alex managed not to laugh; it didn't surprise him that the two of them didn't get along.

"_Where the hell is Wolf?!" she demanded angrily._

_One of the men, a stocky guy with a shaved head and the name of Mitchell raised an eyebrow._

"_Why do you want to know?" he asked, enjoying needling the feisty girl. _

_Erin narrowed her eyes and pulled out her switchblade, opening it with a flick._

"_Just tell me or I'll shove this thing where it'll hurt." She snarled. _

_The man just gave a chuckle and gestured to the tent furthest to the back._

"_He's in there; don't do anything stupid though, he's already pissed at you for disappearing until now." _

_Erin merely smiled coldly and strode to the tent, ripping open the zip up door without pausing. Wolf was inside, on the satellite phone to MI6._

"…_never mind, here she is now…yes, we'll be making our first move tomorrow morning at the earliest…" _

_Wolf gave a last grunt and put the phone down before turning to Erin. _

"_What the hell do you call this?" he asked, towering over her._

_Erin sneered and rolled up her sleeve._

"_Well by my watch, I'd call this 11pm sir." She answered, exaggerating a glance at her watch._

_Wolf seemed to struggle with his temper for a spilt second, giving Erin the opportunity she needed to tear into him linguistically. _

"_You know, I always hated you, but now I really see you for the disgusting asshole you are!" she spat out, voice incensed and cold. _

_Wolf managed to look a little confused. "I'll take that as a compliment, but why do you say that?" he asked, looking impatient. Erin clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes._

"_I followed the two of them, the people in the woods." She said, only just in control. Wolf definitely looked a little awkward now but was working to conceal it._

"_Really? Why is that news?" he asked, wiping at a bead of sweat on his forehead._

_Erin bared her teeth furiously._

"_The man who I was hired to kill is my Father!" she snarled, looking like she was about to try and hit Wolf. _

_Wolf gave an annoyed sigh and picked up the radio that put him in control with the rest of the team._

"_Code 3, you know what to do." He said, switching it off again._

_Erin shot him a slightly worried look._

"_What's code 3?" she asked, hand subconsciously slipping to her Glock, trying to ignore the way the campsite fell silent and the way there were sounds of furtive movement around the tent. _

_Wolf smiled coldly. "Of course the target is your Father. We've known he's alive for 6 months now. We hired you to kill him, but gave him an anonymous identity so you wouldn't discover who he was until it was too late."_

_Erin had tears of rage pricking in the corners of her eyes and she brushed them away furiously._

"_You're disgusting!" she screamed, "I'm going to tear you to pieces!" _

_She pulled out her switchblade again and lunged forward, but Wolf had been expecting the move. He jumped back and spoke quickly out loud._

"_All yours boys; take her at will."_

_Erin's eyes widened and she spun around, reaching for her Glock just as the other members of her team came tore their way through the tent fabric. Before she had time to so much as blink, one of them hit her with a stun grenade and Erin would've fallen to the ground disoriented if some didn't grab her by the arm. She was dragged out of the tent and towards the other side of camp. _

"_Get off of me!" Erin shrieked furiously, lashing out wildly. She kicked out, leaving her momentarily suspended off the ground. To her amazement, she felt her combat boot encased foot make contact, smashing into one of her attacker's chins. He let go promptly, giving a yelp of pain as blood poured from the spot where the skin had spilt open. _

"_Just give her a shot of the tranquiliser!" he shouted, painfully searching for a med-kit. His associates complied with a laugh; Erin didn't even see the needle coming. One minute she was thrashing around furiously, bathed equally by warm firelight and night shadow, the next she fell to the ground hard and her surroundings were dimming into nothingness. _

Erin broke of for a moment, obviously thinking through the next part of her story. Alex stared at her open mouthed, horror struck by what he'd heard so far. Yassen glanced between the two of them and stirred slightly. Erin glanced up sharply.

"I just want you to know that given the circumstances, I now forgive you for attempting to shoot both Alex and I." he said, the corners of her mouth tilting up slightly in what was close to an attempt at a smile. Erin gave a hoarse laugh and shook her head.

"As much as I appreciate the apology, I you should probably know that that wasn't me, I never got to point anything like a weapon at you."

Alex gave a smirk. "You sound disappointed." He noted dryly.

Erin shrugged. "I do have my more malicious moments, I'll admit that. Anyway…"

_Erin woke to sunlight streaming through tent fabric and into her eyes. Head pounding and throat painfully dry, she moaned and tried to turn away. She was stopped by the thick rope that bound her legs and ended tied around a stout steel pegs hammered into the ground she was sprawled on. It took a moment for her to remember where she was and why she was there, but once Erin recalled the events that'd led to her imprisonment, rage lent her strength. She had no idea how long she'd been unconscious, but she wasn't staying here for another second! She gave the rope around her ankles a vicious tug, but it was expertly tied and wouldn't succumb to anything less then a strong knife. Panting from desperation, she quickly thought of an alternative. Erin pushed her hair out of her eyes and began digging furiously at the dirt around the steel peg. She dug with her bare hands, tearing at the ground frantically. After only 15 minutes, the peg was out of the ground, but at the cost of her fingers. Her nails were torn and ragged, blood leaking down her fingers and turning brown as it mixed with the dirt that coated her hands. Erin's fingers were scratched and raw, little better if not worse then her nails. Wincing from the pain, she stood slowly, feeling her stiff body whine in protest at the strain of moving out of such an awkward position. She limped to the tent door, feeling her temper rise again. Unarmed or not, she decided to do her best to destroy the men who'd done this to her. With an inarticulate cry of anger, she burst out of the tent only to find the campsite empty. Erin rubbed her face with her forearm, trying to convince herself that it was beads of sweat running down her face, not salty tears. She felt utterly helpless for a moment, but then, something glinted in the morning sunlight. Stumbling forward, Erin found it to be her switchblade, left abandoned by the dead embers of last night's fire. With a grunt of satisfaction, she flicked it open and immediately began sawing at the rope around her ankles. After a good hour of hard work, the last fibres snapped, leaving a single long piece with the peg tied at the end. It was useful as a weapon, so Erin picked it up and decided to keep it with her. Looking around her, one course of action came to mind. She would track Wolf and the others and kill them, they had tried to fool her into killing her own Father and she would have the most lethal revenge possible for that. Erin's dried lips smiled grimly and she lurched into the woods, breaking into a jog. She thought she knew where to find her betrayers. _

_After three hours, Erin found Wolf. He and his men were crouched not far from the edge of the woods, hidden in a tangle of half dead shrubbery, obviously sniping the clearing and house that Erin now knew Alex and Yassen were in. They were positioned in such a way that they each covered a separate piece of ground and there was about 40 feet between each man. Teeth bared, Erin snuck up behind the nearest SAS man, a tall, brown haired guy by the name of Joshua. Standing behind him, she hesitated for a moment, she knew this guy: he wasn't that much older then her and had a great sense of humour. Then, Erin hardened her heart, the man would've sat by and let her kill her only family without remorse, he was a fair target. With a savage cry, she swung the rope, bringing the steel pegs down hard so that it hit Joshua. But she timed it wrongly, instead of impaling him silently through the chest, it stuck in his shoulder. Joshua gave a horrible scream and whipped around, already firing. Erin dropped to the ground, rifle bullets whizzing lethally over her head and crashing through the forest, making even more noise. All around her were the sounds of Wolf and the others converging on this spot, frantic calls filtering through the trees. Erin rolled into a thicker patch of bushes, taking her out of Joshua's view. The soldier continued screaming and pouring bullets into the air until his gun jammed and he fell to the ground, writhing. Erin took the opportunity to try and escape, she broke from cover and sprinted through the trees, heading for the house. She almost made it too. Erin was halfway across the clearing when it happened. There was a sharp crack and something white-hot and agonising sliced into her shoulder. Eyes widened, but silent, Erin felt her legs give out beneath her and she toppled, biting her tongue as she hit the ground. Blood was everywhere around her, but she still didn't give up. Erin heaved herself to her feet and lunged forward, barely making it ten metres before she fell again. With one last burst of strength, she crawled another few metres before blood loss and shock knocked her out cold. The cold snow suddenly seemed warm and soft as a blanket. _

_Wolf watched as Erin made her last move before passing out. Next to him, Mitchell slowly lowered his sniper rifle slowly and looked up at him inquiringly._

"_Another shot?" he asked, finger still on the trigger. _

_Wolf shook his head. "No need, she won't last the night. Besides, this way we can't be charged with murder, the cold will have killed her, not the bullet."_

_There was silence after this comment, and then both men laughed. They knew that whilst they were on MI6's mission, they needn't worry about laws. Helping Joshua to his feet, they faded back into the woods, the only evidence of their presence here the injured girl lying on the snow. _

Erin ended her story, and looked away as if embarrassed by what she's said. Then, she looked up again. Alex and Yassen stood staring at her, so she felt prompted to say something.

"Surprise," she said, more sarcastic then she'd intended, "your friends aren't so nice after all."


	23. Bitter Memories

**Chapter 20, Memory of a Promise**

A/N: okay guys, this is a long chappie and a very hard one to write so I figure that you guys owe me some serious review numbers!!! Seriously, if I don't get at **least** 10 well thought out, good reviews I might consider just not updating until I feel my point has been satisfactorily made…

Alex blinked once and let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Next to him, Yassen made a sound halfway between a grunt and a sigh. Erin looked up, a slight frown on her face.

"I know that noise," she muttered, "Something's bothering you."

Yassen pulled a chair over to himself and sat down in it.

"Yes, something is bothering me." He agreed, tapping the arm of his chair thoughtfully, "What bothers me is the fact that listening to your story the only valid conclusion I can come to is that I'm back at the beginning of this whole mess, only now I have to contend with both you _and_ Alex."

Alex started at the mention of his name.

"You know, I'm a little tired of being verbally abused at every opportunity, I'm not allowed to do it to _you_ after all." He complained, folding his arms grumpily. Yassen glanced over in his direction, frowning slightly. Alex could tell from the man's expression that he was starting to push it a little, but he didn't care. Alex was confused, tired and in a lot of pain so he'd had enough: he was determined to get what he wanted for once. Erin, sensing the coming storm, gave bit her lip with an air of slight anxiety and quickly hobbled out of the room, closing the kitchen door behind her and heading quickly upstairs. Once the sound of her climbing the staircase had faded, Yassen rounded on Alex. When he spoke, he sounded very pissed off.

"Never before have I been so tempted to break the promise I made to myself of never killing a child!" The Russian snapped, "In fact, it would be worth shooting you just so you'd shut up!"

Alex didn't back down in the face of the intimidation, he took a step forward and clenched his fists.

"You just don't get it, do you?" he snarled, trying to ignore his aching body so his façade of invulnerable strength wouldn't be ruined by him wincing.

Yassen didn't seem to buy it though; he ran an eagle's eye over Alex and shook his head slowly.

"Alex, you shouldn't be straining yourself like this, come and-"

"This is what I'm talking about!" Alex burst out angrily, "All this fake crap you do, being all nice and kind to me! It's enough to make me sick!"

At his words, the room fell silent with Yassen either unwilling to answer or simply surprised by Alex's anger. Through the quiet, Alex thought he heard a sharp intake of breath at the kitchen door. Before he could comment on it though, Yassen spoke.

"It's not actually 'fake' you know." He said quietly, not meeting Alex's eyes. "I actually do care about what happens to you." The Russian still didn't look up, as if he was ashamed of revealing human emotions. Alex stared shocked for a moment before remembering he was meant to be angry and aggressive. He quickly shook himself and repositioned the furious scowl on his face.

"Yeah well, you're doing a damn good job of disguising that, aren't you?" he sneered, working in an amount of sarcasm that surprised even himself. Yassen looked up slowly and Alex noticed how all warmth and emotion had left had left his face.

"If you really feel that way, then why don't you leave the house, see how far you get without me?" Yassen asked slowly, annunciating every syllable very clearly. Alex took a step back and stared, not sure whether or not to take the word's seriously.

"I'm not bluffing Alex," Yassen snapped, looking very grim. "If you think I am so intolerable to be around, leave now and don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Still not sure, Alex took a wary step backwards, slowly reaching out for the doorknob. If he thought that this would cause Yassen to break, he was wrong.

"Go on, I won't stop you." The Russian said, nodding at the door.

"Alright then…" Alex muttered. He ripped the kitchen door open and strode out, only to topple over Erin where she crouched with her ear pressed to the door.

"Ahhh! Shit, that hurt!" She spat, picking herself up. Erin gingerly touched her shoulder wound and quickly sat back down looking visibly shaky. Alex stayed lying where he was for a moment, the feeling of being winded added to the pain of a broken rib and ankle.

"W-what the hell were you doing, storming out of the kitchen like that?" Erin wheezed, blinking away tears of pain that had automatically sprung up in her eyes.

"I would ask you the same thing," Alex answered, slowly picking himself up, "Only I know what you were doing: you were trying to eavesdrop on the conversation!"

Erin tried unsuccessfully to pull a look of hurt innocence off. Once she noticed Alex's sceptical expression she quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, never mind that! What are you doing?!" she asked, tentatively standing and helping Alex to his feet.

"Alex was just leaving actually." Yassen walked up behind them, answering before Alex could.

Erin looked between Alex and Yassen, face displaying her confusion.

"Sorry, what was that? For a second I thought you said Alex was leaving…"

Yassen raised an eyebrow and gestured vaguely at the front door.

"That's exactly what I said. Alex is leaving; he feels that my presence is intolerable, so he's leaving."

Erin whipped around to face Alex.

"He's kidding right?! I mean, surely you wouldn't be that stupid!" She demanded eyes huge.

Alex shrugged.

"From what I know, Yassen doesn't do jokes, so yes I am leaving."

With that, he walked unevenly towards the door, silently cursing every time his broken ankle gave a spurt of pain. Behind him, Erin was arguing heatedly with Yassen.

"What the hell did you say to him to make him do this?!" She snapped, folding her arms across her chest angrily.

"I didn't say anything, Alex is simply unappreciative of the effort I make to keep him alive and well so I suggested that if he had problems with me he should try his luck elsewhere. I'm sure MI6 would be glad to have him back, especially after it he seemingly ditched on a mission."

"So you basically told him to get lost!!!" Erin half screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. She gave a noise of exasperation and stormed over to Alex before Yassen had an opportunity to reply.

"Alex, don't do this, it's minus 10 out there and you have no equipment!" Erin implored, grabbing him by the arm.

Alex shook himself free and kept walking.

"I'll deal with it somehow, besides I think I can call your Father's bluff." He said, just loud enough for only Erin to hear. She stared at him like a madman.

"Are you stupid or something? He doesn't _do_ bluffing, if he says something, he means it! Please Alex, you'll die out there!" Erin begged, stepping in front of him to block him from the door.

Alex stopped, and looked at her in confusion.

"Yeah I might die, but why do you care?" he asked in a slightly bewildered voice.

Erin opened her mouth to answer, but after a moment where she seemed unable to answer, she closed it and turned away, but not before Alex saw she was blushing. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her around to face him.

"No really, why do you care what happens to me?" he asked, genuinely clueless.

A dry laugh from behind them caused them to both turn around. Yassen stood leaning against the wall casually chuckling. Now it was Alex's turn to blush, he'd almost forgotten the Russian was there.

"What's so funny?!" he snapped, trying to disguise his embarrassment in anger.

Yassen shook his head, not buying it.

"You two are what are so funny. You don't understand what's going on here, do you?"

Against his better judgement, Alex focused on Yassen and shook his head slowly.

Yassen gave a slight smirk.

"Didn't think you did…" he muttered smugly. Then after a brief pause, he went on.

"It's not so much that Erin cares about what _happens_ to you, it's more that she cares more _about_ you. Isn't that right Erin?"

Erin was blushing bright pink now and was shaking her head as hard as possible.

"No! I just don't want-"

Alex cut in abruptly; grabbing Erin by the arm again as understanding hit him.

"Don't even bother denying it, I can see it written all over your face!" he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Erin's blush had subsided and she scowled furiously.

"You're being a dumb ass!" she snarled, "I couldn't care less really; I just don't need another death on my conscience!"

Yassen gave her a look of polite incredulity.

"Excuse me, I thought you didn't have a conscience, that's what you've told me numerous times and even if you did, you do a remarkable job of disguising it in ruthlessness and cold blooded murder."

Alex had to bite his bottom lip hard to resist laughing out loud. Erin noticed anyway and before he even had time to register, she slammed her fist into his stomach hard, causing him to double over with a grunt.

"Stop being an idiot! I hate you when you're stupid like this!" She yelled.

Alex waved off Yassen who came over with a concerned look on his face. He managed to straighten up just enough to face Erin, wincing at the effort. Amazingly, he had a cocky grin on his face.

"They say you only hurt the one's you love." Alex teased, half bracing himself for another punch. It never came, Erin clenched her fists and stormed up the stairs muttering under her breath, down the hallway and slammed a door behind her. A sudden silence took over once the sound of the slamming door stopped ringing in Alex's ears.

"You must be so proud of your daughter's level of maturity." He remarked dryly to Yassen. The Russian merely gave a non-committal grunt and pulled open the front door.

"Aren't you leaving anymore?" Yassen asked, gesturing out into the cold wilderness that surrounded the house. Alex scowled at him and limped to the threshold.

"Of course I am, that was just a slight distraction." He growled, wincing slightly as a sudden gust of bitterly cold wind bit at his face. Alex took an involuntary step backwards, cursing under his breath and bumping into Yassen who moved back.

"Cold?" The Russian asked, voice tinged with a mix of sarcasm and fake concern. Alex just wrapped his arms around himself and took a stubborn step outside, nearly slipping over on the icy ground. Straight away the wind picked up, causing huge clouds of snow and ice to blow up in the air and into his face. Alex was seriously tempted to go running back into the house for a minute, but then he thought of the smug 'I told you so' expression that would surely be plastered over Erin's face when she found out that he'd wimped out. So, gritting his teeth, Alex pushed forward, eyes squinting to try and see through the miniature blizzard. He was barely five metres from the door, yet already he'd lost sight of Yassen and the house altogether. The Russian's voice floated through the howling wind to his ears.

"Having fun? You look like you're stalling out there."

Alex whipped around to give Yassen the finger, only to realize the Russian wouldn't be able to see him through the snow anyway. Feeling aggrieved, he continued trudging through the snow, making very little progress against the howling winds. After what felt like hours of progress (although Alex had the nagging suspicion it was more like 15 minutes), Alex stumbled on a particularly treacherous patch of ice and crashed to the frozen ground, jerking his ankle in the process. Howling in pain and frustration, Alex lay writhing on the ground.

Once she was finished trying to tear her pillow to pieces and generally throwing a temper tantrum, Erin sighed and left her room. Quietly she slipped downstairs, looking for her Father. To her surprise, the house was well and truly freezing, despite the fire blazing in the living room. Looking around for the explanation to the temperature, Erin noticed Yassen standing in the front door, watching something out in the storm that had suddenly whipped up. She jogged down the rest of the stairs, wincing at her shoulder. Erin skidded to a stop next to him.

"What are you doing, it's freezing out there!" she gasped, rubbing her forearms briskly.

"I'm watching to make sure Alex doesn't kill himself out there. I intend to call his bluff." Yassen replied calmly, never diverting his gaze from the blowing snow and ice outside the house. Erin stared at him aghast.

"Are you kidding?! Alex is out there trying to call _your_ bluff!!!" she practically shrieked, eyes huge.

"Oh." Yassen looked surprised and amused at the same time.

Erin shook her head in weary incredulity.

"Oh? Alex is going to die trying to call a bluff that doesn't even exist and all you can say is 'Oh'?!"

Yassen looked like he was tempted to take a leaf out of his daughter's book and roll his eyes.

"Alex isn't going to die; you're being obnoxious and overly dramatic." He said coolly.

Just then, something sounded out in the snowstorm.

"SHIIIIIITTTTTTT, OWWWWWWWW!!!!!!"

Erin turned frantically.

"See!!! He's dieing out there, for god's sake go get him!!!" She yelped, on the verge of hysteria. Yassen raised a brow, and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I think if he can still swear, he's fine. I'm not getting Alex until he develops an acceptable attitude; he's being almost as childish as you."

Erin gaped at Yassen.

"But Alex's in pain out there, what if he's impaled himself on a branch or something?!"

Yassen shrugged, causing Erin to snap.

"You know what, if you won't get him, I will!" she snarled, looking around for a jacket. Yassen sighed and finally stirred.

"No you won't, I will if it'll shut both of you up." He shook his head in annoyance and shoved his daughter roughly back into the house as he stepped outside. Within seconds, the Russian disappeared in the chaos of howling wind and blowing snow. Erin stared out into the foul weather frantically, not sure who to be more worried about. Her chaotic thoughts quickly took over her attention.

'_Alex will be fine, what about Dad though?!'_ Then, she shook herself in disgust; Erin couldn't believe she'd actually just thought of Yassen as 'Dad'.

'_I really __**must**__ be worried to sink to that level…Besides; I should be more worried about Alex, what if he's hurt…'_

Erin shook her head, trying to empty it of thoughts. Suddenly she recalled, a day from a two years ago…

_Erin sprinted forward, leaves and branches smacking into her face. The light filtered down in a greenish-yellow glow through the tree tops, striking the long grassed ground in wide rays. Not 30 metres in front of her, she could see the ruined building that was the safe zone through the trees._

'_I'm almost there, I'm going to make it!' she thought happily, doubling her efforts. It was then she heard the high pitched twang. Erin felt her feet hit a taut line, stumble and then she flew forwards. Erin hit the ground hard, rolling down the steep slope that led to the tree line. Before she reached the bottom however, there was a snap, a dull thud and before she even felt the pain, Erin saw the serrated toothed bear trap that had snapped closed over her forearm. Then, the pain burst into life and blood streamed down her arm and dripped from her hand as she lay on her back, held up on the slope by her forearm. Erin gave a wild scream that was cut off almost immediately as she clamped her mouth shut, biting her bottom lip savagely to stop the cries from escaping her mouth._

"_No…I won't screw up, I'll make Dad proud…" She whispered to herself, barely audible. _

"_A noble enough intention, too bad it's too late. You've already failed the exercise Erin." A voice said over her head in Russian._

_Erin yanked her head back sharply, managing to look up awkwardly. She saw it was her Father, standing by the trap, looking down on her with an unreadable expression on his face. Erin felt her mood sink and she gave up trying to keep her arm from straining and just slumped, letting the teeth of the bear trap dig in harder into her arm. _

"_Sorry." She muttered, feeling shame and self-loathing flood through her. Erin hated it when she did something wrong, she felt like she wasn't living up to some unspoken expectations of her Father's. Above her, Yassen shrugged._

"_It's no use being sorry now; an apology doesn't fix what you did."_

_Erin didn't reply, but she pressed her lips together bad temperedly and fixed her glare on a gnarled tree root protruding from the ground in front of her. Yassen seemed to realise she wasn't going to say anything, so he shook his head and quickly opened up the bear trap. Erin awkwardly manoeuvred herself higher up the slope to look at the damage. The serrated steel teeth of the trap had dug into her arm deeply, leaving a band of circular puncture wounds around her forearm. She gingerly lifted her arm up slowly, the teeth painfully easing out of her flesh. Erin bit her lip harder and held her arm out for her Father to expect. Yassen's face revealed nothing as he examined the wound with cold, professional fingers. Erin kept her head turned away, still glaring down the slope at the root. _

"_You're lucky." Yassen's voice interrupted her reverie quietly, "No major blood vessels were damaged, it's mainly only a flesh wound although it'll definitely scar." _

_Erin's eyes narrowed and she gave a sharp nod but otherwise didn't divert her gaze. Yassen produced a first aid kit from somewhere and took out a roll of bandages. He passed them over to Erin whose hands closed convulsively for a moment before taking them. She turned around and began wrapping her injured arm up with her other hand, using her teeth to pull the bandage tight. Yassen crouched down a few metres in front of her. Erin waited silently for him to speak._

"_Today's training exercise was mostly successful despite a few 'incidents'. You achieved most of the mission goals, except for the final objective, to make it to the safe zone. All in all, I'd say you performed well today." _

_Erin gave another nod, but waited, knowing there was more to come._

_Yassen studied his daughter for a moment and raised a brow as if unsatisfied with her reaction. Then, after another second's silence, he went on._

"_However, I've noticed that there's a common characteristic to your performance in all of the training exercises I set you. In all of the 'seek and destroy' missions, you excel, completing all objectives satisfactorily and beating scores set by those who'd undergone the same tests previously. However, you're scores drop dramatically when you're tested on escaping hostile situations." _

_Yassen paused, studying Erin again. She'd finished wrapping her arm up and was still facing him, but staring straight through him. Yassen's expression darkened slightly._

"_I'm beginning to wonder if you're deliberately failing these missions because you find fighting preferable." Yassen said, his words and what they implied hanging heavily in the air. Erin didn't answer though; she dropped the roll of bandages on the ground and stood. Yassen did likewise, eyes narrowed as Erin turned to leave. He grabbed her by her uninjured arm. Erin's head turned sharply to stare at her Father. _

"_You've been skipping your sessions with Dr. Steiner, haven't you?" Yassen demanded, not beating around the bush. Erin tried to tug her arm away._

"_Let go." She said voice low and emotionless, robotic even, as she tried to turn away again._

_Yassen roughly yanked her arm so that Erin was forced to face him again._

"_Don't try and ignore me Erin," he warned, "I don't want to hurt you, but you're not leaving me much choice."_

_Once he was satisfied that his Daughter was obeying him, Yassen spoke again._

"_Now answer me please, you've been skipping your sessions haven't you?" he asked, voice quiet and reasonable. Erin appeared to soften for a moment and then gave a single nod._

"_Yes." She said voice still void of any emotion. _

_Yassen slowly released Erin's arm._

"_I thought you had, you're extremely aggressive and you've forgotten how to clear your mind" He noted, eyes missing nothing. _

_Erin shrugged._

"_I can't clear my mind anymore because there are so many things bothering me." She said, still staring through her Father as if she was seeing something else all together. Yassen shook his head._

"_In this life, we don't have the luxury of worries, of useless distractions. Someone who can't empty their minds of everything but the task at hand risks everything: missing traps, seeing enemies or allies in the wrong people-"_

"_And never being able to kill." Erin interrupted, voice soft and looking her Father in the eye for the first time that day. "Only that's just it isn't it, you don't want me to be able to kill, do you? Only escape and defend myself if I need to…"_

_Yassen seemed to freeze, halfway through putting the roll of bandages away in the first aid kit. _

"_Isn't that right?" Erin asked, taking a step forwards, fists clenched._

_Her Father didn't respond; he seemed to be unable to speak for a minute. _

"_Isn't that right?!" Erin asked again, half yelling now._

"_Erin, I'm going to ask you for something, which I will never do again." He said, voice low and insistent. "I want you to promise me something."_

_Erin narrowed her eyes and stared at her Father. _

"_What do you want me to promise?" she asked, every word filled with confusion and suspicion. _

_Yassen paused for a split second. _

"_I want you to promise me that you'll never be a killer, that you won't out yourself in my world." He said, almost pleading. _

_Erin clenched her fists and scowled._

"_No! You can't ask that of me, it's my life and you can't ask me to turn my back on what I know, on what I'm good at!" She snapped, shaking her head furiously. Erin turned her back and started to leave, but Yassen grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her roughly back. Erin writhed involuntarily in pain, He'd grabbed her injured arm._

"_Stop it, you're hurting me!" she gasped, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. _

_Yassen just pulled her closer._

"_Promise me!" he demanded, eyes cold and hard._

"_I won't!" Erin whispered, tears pouring openly down her face now._

_Yassen gripped her sore arm tighter, causing Erin to whimper. _

"_Don't do this to me, to yourself!" he half whispered, voice dangerous, "Just promise me you won't be a killer; promise me you won't destroy your life."_

_Erin stared at her Father unsure for a minute._

"_I c-can't…" she whispered, eyes huge. Never before had Erin been afraid like this._

_Yassen shook her by the wrist. _

"_Promise!" he demanded, "Promise me!" _

_Erin whimpered in pain and fear. _

"_I promise!" she gasped, "I promise…"_

_Yassen kept Erin's eye for another moment, then he gave a small nod, as if to himself and then he slowly released his Daughter's wrists._

"_That's all I ask." He said, voice calm now. "You can go now, make sure you see Dr. D'Arc and get your arm attended to."_

_Erin roughly wiped her face dry with her sleeve and nodded. Then, she turned and quickly ran out from the trees and through the long grass towards the main group of buildings. Malagosto was a beautiful island, but Erin saw none of it as she fled her Father. _

Erin stood very still, facing out into the blowing snow, ice cold winds whipping at her already cold ivory skin. She felt something weaken inside her as the memory of the promise that had caused her so much doubt played again and again in her head. For some reason, Erin suddenly had to resist the urge to cry and she shook herself. Erin wasn't sure wether or not she actually hated her Father for making her swear to a promise that she was always destined to break. All she knew was that until that moment three years ag

'_History is history and I shouldn't let it cloud my mind…' _Erin thought savagely, squeezing her hands in fists. Then, a rare moment where her emotions took over and Erin felt a single icy tear roll down her cheek. Then, she shook herself, disgust overtaking the misery.

"I'm such a hypocrite…" She muttered out loud.

Erin turned to go back inside, suddenly she couldn't care less wether or not both Alex and Yassen came out of the storm okay. As she stepped back into the hallway, she had an idea that she knew was probably very stupid, but it was an impulse that took her over none the less. Erin grabbed the door by the knob and slammed it as hard as she could, jamming it in the process. Then, she reached over and slid the security chain on the door into its locked position. Nodding in satisfaction, Erin flicked her blonde hair out of her face, gingerly prodded at her bullet wound, and limped upstairs, thinking of the satellite phone she'd managed to steal from Yassen's room. She had a call to make, one that could mean getting out of this metaphorical hellhole.


	24. Busted

**Chapter 21, Busted**

A/N OMG!!! You guys r very bad, I didn't get 10 reviews from you! The only reason I'm updating is because **I** want to…This is your last warning though!

Alex tried gingerly to pick himself up off of the icy ground. After causing his aggravated ankle to give a painful spurt, he gave up with a sigh.

'_Maybe I'll just sit here until I freeze to death and then I'll be a ghost and go haunt Yassen.' _He thought miserably. Then, Alex shook himself; he wasn't usually given to having morbid thoughts, despite what life had thrown at him.

'_I blame Yassen for it, he's enough to put dieing on anyone's mind'_ he thought, wincing. The pain from all his injuries had been oddly muted so far, but now it was gripping him in merciless waves of agony. Then, an idea occurred to Alex.

'_If I call for help, maybe Yassen will come and help and I can try to kill him.'_ He reflected happily on that possibility before reality set in.

'_Yeah right, even on my best day Yassen's three times faster and stronger then me.' _

Alex gave a groan as his broken ankle and rib throbbed painfully. There were other injuries that were paining him, but the two broken bones were causing him so much misery that all the other pain seemed pale and weak by comparison.

'_I'd kill for a supply of morphine…'_ he reflected vaguely, dimly aware of his wondering thoughts.

'_Wait never mind, I tried the whole killing thing, been there done that, didn't work.' _

Alex mentally scolded himself for even trying to fool himself into thinking he could kill Yassen, no matter how much he hated the man.

"And to be perfectly honest, I don't think I'd be justified in killing Yassen. After all, he did sort of take care of me, in his weird twisted way." Alex muttered, yawning and half closing his eyes. After a moment of sleepily laying the thickly falling snow, something suddenly occurred to Alex. He opened his eyes quickly and did his best to rouse himself. A documentary he'd once watched on tourists and hikers who'd been lost on a mountain top in the middle of winter came to mind.

'…_Temperatures were well below freezing, even without factoring wind chill in. In these conditions, the group quickly began to suffer from hypothermia…'_

Alex tried to remember what the documentary had said next, but the urge to simply go to sleep made concentration difficult. Summoning what little energy he had, Alex did his best, but all he could remember was bits and pieces.

'_Oh well, It's no big deal, I'm actually kind of warm anyway...Not shivering or anything…'_ He thought fuzzily, closing his eyes again. Then, Alex abruptly began panicking. Suddenly, he could remember the rest of the documentary; it went on to describe the symptoms of hypothermia.

'_The victim's core temperature has now dropped to 33 - 31 degrees Celsius. Shivering slows or stops, muscles begin to stiffen and mental confusion and apathy sets in. Speech becomes slow, vague and slurred, breathing becomes slower and shallow, and drowsiness and strange behavior may occur. Skin is cold, may be bluish- gray in color, eyes may be dilated. Victim is very weak, displays__ a marked lack of coordination, appears exhausted, may appear to be drunk, denies problem and may resist help. There is a gradual loss of consciousness. There may be little or no apparent breathing, victim may be very rigid, unconscious, and may appear dead…'_

Seriously scared, Alex had to wrest his emotions under control. He struggled to think about his predicament logically.

'_I haven't been shivering, but that's one of the symptoms. Talking to myself is __definitely strange behavior, for me anyway…'_

He scowled at himself, suddenly annoyed at letting a stupid TV program he'd seen ages ago get to him.

'I'm fine, just a little sore. No need to jump to conclusions and start creating problems where there aren't any. I'm not hypothermic, just cold." He murmured aloud, surprised by how numb his lips were. They made talking hard; half of his words came out sounding like what they would if he'd been drinking. Alex's thoughts strayed back to when he'd been talking to himself. He couldn't believe he'd been considering giving Yassen any leniency.

"He may say he 'saved' my life, but I know better." Alex muttered, painfully stretching himself. "He's not to be trusted, he probably only did it because he's going to give me up to Liberty. He hates me anyway…"

Suddenly, Alex heard the sounds of crunching snow. He half opened his eyes and saw a figure overhead. After a couple second's intense focus, the figure turned into Yassen leaning over him. The Russian spoke.

"If I really hated you, why would I bother saving you time after time?" He asked.

Unable to answer, Alex just made an unintelligible noise and drifted into darkness.

Yassen would never admit to anyone else other then himself, but he was worried. Even with his good knowledge of the surroundings landscape, it had taken about an hour to find Alex. And even that was a problem, the boy was suffering from severe hypothermia and they still had to get back to the house. Yassen wasn't sure if Alex could survive another hour with the condition he was in. Yassen crouched by Alex's inert form and checked the boy's Carotid Artery. There was a pulse there, but it was weak and jittery. Feeling more concerned by the moment, Yassen checked Alex's breathing. Again, it was poor. Every breath was shallow and seemed to slow each second. Shaking his head at his own generosity, Yassen pulled his beanie off and managed to pull it over Alex's head. Giving a moan, Alex spoke, although it was impossible to tell how awake he really was.

"…Wearing your hat…" He slurred.

Hoisting Alex up into a standing position, Yassen gave a tight nod.

"Yes. I don't do nice things often, so you'd better appreciate it."

Even though visibility was poor, The Russian swore he saw a smirk form on Alex's face.

"Your hat smells funny and it's itchy…" Alex muttered a tone of unmistakable whining in his voice. Feeling his mood darken at Alex's needling, Yassen looked down, intending to say something. He was too late though, Alex was already fading into unconsciousness again. Suddenly, the wind died, making it a lot less cold. On an impulse, Yassen smirked to himself.

"My hat does not smell funny." He remarked, "You do."

Somewhat surprised at his own sense of humor **(A/N I know, a lot of u r probably thinking 'I didn't even know Yassen HAS a sense of humor!)** Yassen slowly started moving to the house, supporting Alex the entire way.

Erin felt odd as she walked into the bedroom she'd hidden the stolen satellite phone in.

'_Maybe my little emotional break-down did that…'_ she thought, not really caring why she felt the way she did. Erin did however take the time to identify exactly what she was feeling; it was part of being in control that she knew what emotions she was dealing with. She took a deep breath in and released it after a couple of seconds. Once she was sure she wasn't about to go nuts, Erin had a rare moment of self contemplation. She was shocked to discover what felt like suppressed hysteria, anger and even fear bubbling away inside of her.

'_No! I'm never afraid, I __can't be…' _Erin clenched her eyes shut and sat down abruptly on the wooden bedroom floor. Trying desperately to stay in control, she bit down hard on the inside of her bottom lip. It hurt, but not enough to distract her from the uneasiness churning in her gut.

'_No! I won't be subject to my weaknesses…I can deal with this, I just need a moment…'_

However, a moment stretched out into a minute, and all of Erin's emotions intensified until the fear and anger were almost a physical pain. Erin wrapped her arms around herself and clenched her fists hard. She also bit down harder then before on her lip. With a sharp jolt of pain, the skin spilt open and suddenly, Erin could taste the coppery tan tog blood on her tongue. Wrinkling her nose, she spat out a mouthful of blood. The pain had been enough to bring her back under control; Erin took another shuddering breath in and forced herself to relax. Shakily standing up, something glinted in the corner of Erin's eye. She turned sharply, but saw nothing. Frowning slightly, she turned back around. Again, something glinted, but this time Erin managed to figure out it was in the top right corner of the room. Slowly, she walked towards the corner. A single, small picture frame hung from the wall. It was empty, no work of art sat behind the glass. There wasn't any glass anyway, just a wooden frame. Curious, Erin pulled the frame off of the hook it was hanging from. She held it up to the bedroom light and noticed the frame was decorated with small circles of glass that went all the way around the frame. Nothing reflected the light.

'That's odd, I thought glass reflected light…'Erin wondered.

Then, something glinted again. Alert this time, Erin looked more closely at the frame. After half a minute's scrutiny, she noticed as one of the glass circles briefly flashed red before going back to looking like ordinary glass. Half curious, half wary, Erin tried prying the glass circle out with her nails. After getting three painful splinters underneath her nail, Erin decided on another approach. She flipped the frame over and had a look at the woodwork. Erin noticed that one square portion of wood had a grain that was different to the rest of the frame. Concentrating, she noticed a tiny crack along the left edge of the square. Trying to be delicate, she dug into it with her nail. To her surprise, the square of wood popped off, revealing a small space beneath it. Peering into it interestedly, Erin was confused by what she saw. The circle of glass was no more then a tiny lens, with a whole bunch of wires attached. Most of the space was taken up by a small screen, which was connected to the lens. A tiny red LED light blinked underneath the lens every minute or so. Erin cautiously poked the screen with her little finger, but nothing happened. Frowning, she poked the lens as well. Still nothing happened. Erin tried everything she could think of to get the screen to do whatever it was meant to. After 10 minutes, she was frustrated and decided she couldn't be bothered to mess around with the thing anymore. Erin stood and put the frame back up on the hook. As she did, her sharp ears caught the tiniest sound: A muted click. Cocking her head, Erin looked at the lens from in front. It looked normal, but something told Erin that it was different somehow. She pulled it off the hook experimentally. There was another small click. A sudden inspiration struck Erin, instead of trying to press the screen, she press on the front of the lens. There was a whirring noise and Erin figured it out, the switch was pressure triggered; the wire that held the frame on the hook put too much pressure for the switch to operate somehow.

Delighted, Erin flipped the frame over and looked at the screen. It showed grainy footage of the room, the lens was a camera. Erin watched for awhile, but it just showed the empty bedroom. Bored, she started to turn away, when something moved on the screen. Fascinated, she watched herself walk on screen. Her fascination quickly turned to shock as she watched herself basically curl up and break down.

'_I'm shaking all over…'_ she thought, horrified at what she was watching. And it was true, in the clip; she saw what had happened in the minutes she'd been out of control. The Erin on screen sat with her arms wrapped around her, rocking back and forwards slightly.

'_Crap no! I thought I had stopped this! It's happening again…'_Erin felt horror flood through her, she hadn't had a break down like this in months, why were they coming back now?! Eyes widened, Erin threw the frame onto the bed and backed away until she felt the wall hit her back. The irony of her position hit her, all her life, Erin had been back against her wall. Resolve trickling back into her system, she picked up the phone and began dialing.

Alex felt like he was floating along in a warm, dark bubble. He was dimly aware that something bad had happened or was happening, but his mind was in too poor a state to really think about that, so he just kept floating along for awhile. Gradually however, Alex's injuries intruded into his bubble and it seemingly popped. Suddenly, he was back in the real world, where everything hurt and he was being supported by Yassen. Feeling very confused, he tried to get free. Yassen abruptly let go of him, so Alex fell straight to the ground.

"I really don't like you sometimes." He managed to mutter through a mouthful of snow.

Yassen raised a brow.

"Really, I thought all the verbal abuse was your way of saying how much you liked me." The Russian replied sarcastically.

Alex merely grunted and let Yassen pick him up off the ground again. They were at the front door, but it was closed. Yassen glanced at Alex.

"I need both hands." He said coolly.

Alex nodded sleepily, and managed to get himself to the wall and lean uncomfortably against it. Yassen reached for the doorknob and twisted it. The door opened a few inches before jolting against the security chain that held it shut. Alex embarrassed himself by letting out a slight whimper, he wanted so badly just to get inside and curl up on the couch. Yassen looked at him briefly before speaking.

"Erin's locked us out for some reason." He noted quietly.

Alex rolled his eyes.

"I could _never_ have seen that coming!" he snorted, folding his arms bad temperedly across his chest.

Yassen didn't reply, he just shook his head once before lashing out viciously with a kick. For a split second, Alex thought it was aimed for him, so he jumped as the door crashed open, fragments of the broken security chain falling to the floor. Yassen motioned for Alex to go inside with a sarcastic sort of smile on his face.

"You didn't see that coming though." He said, noting the shocked expression on Alex's face.

Erin had always hated it when things didn't get straight to the point. Dealing with MI6 underlings was always going to annoy her, but it was even worse today.

"No! Listen to me, you stupid puffed up assh-"

"Erin?" Mrs. Jones was suddenly on the line.

Releasing a breath that she'd been holding out of frustration, Erin adopted a honeyed tone.

"Oh _Hello_ Tulip, how are you going? I would have checked in before now, but being _shot_ _at_ by MI6 agents tends to make the mind wonder. Wouldn't you agree?"

There was a pause on the line whilst Mrs. Jones let what Erin had just said sink in. A response came quickly, but Erin knew that Mrs. Jones hadn't expected Erin to be on her own, or even alive for that matter.

"Erin, I can understand how you feel and I-"

Erin scowled and cut in quickly.

"No you cannot understand! I come and work for you, getting results none of your other agents were capable of achieving and this is what I get! I risk my life and freedom multiple times, infiltrating countless consulates and embassies and what do I get as a reward? Nothing! In fact, I get hung out to dry, and when I object to that, I get shot and left to die in the snow! So no, don't you _dare_ tell me you can understand how I feel!" She trailed off, out of breath. There was a silence that seemed to stretch for hours on the other end of the line. Then, after Erin heard what sounded like muted conversation on Mrs. Jones' end, a response came.

"Erin, I want you to know I had absolutely no knowledge of what had happened to you!"

Erin gave a derisive snort and started to interrupt, but Mrs. Jones stopped her.

"No, listen to me Erin!" Mrs. Jones' voice contained a note of steel that was usually there. Once she was assured that she wasn't going to be interrupted again, the MI6 deputy head began again.

"Now listen to me, the mission we sent you on was designed to be done alongside SAS troops. We had a plan that was agreed on by both MI6 and the SAS. However, when you did what you did, you preformed out of MI6 protocol, which we had no contingency for. However, I just received news from the SAS that they had some sort of contingency for dealing with you, and even that didn't prove to be enough as you escaped. When you ran from Wolf and his team, they feared that you would devastate any chance of success for the mission, so they acted on a protocol that instructs them to take what ever measure is needed to save the mission. Unfortunately, this meant taking you out of the picture…permanently."

Erin listened to what Mrs. Jones said, her throat suddenly dry. As much as they'd argued, Erin had truly respected Wolf and had told herself that he'd done what he did only because MI6 had forced him to. Now she knew the truth, he'd done it because he'd seen killing her as the only way to save the mission.

"Oh…" Erin wasn't exactly sure what to say for a minute. Then, an angry thought came to mind.

"Did you know that killing my Father was the secondary objective for this mission?" She asked coldly. The brief pause on the phone told her everything.

"It was the primary objective actually, and we were the ones to suggest it. The SAS were actually hesitant to get involved, so we volunteered you." Mrs. Jones said calmly. Erin felt her breath catch painfully in her throat and her fingers curled around the phone so tightly that the plastic of the phone actually dented a little.

"And y-you didn't feel the need to tell me all this?" she half gasped, feeling black rage surge through her.

"Don't be stupid Erin, it doesn't suit you!" Mrs. Jones snapped, "Why would we tell you?"

Erin was tempted to unleash a volley of every bad word in every language she knew (8, not including Russian and English which were her native tongues). But then, she remembered the reason she was calling in the first place and swallowed her anger.

"Of course, why would you?" she agreed, in a voice that sounded unusually emotionless, even for her. Mrs. Jones sounded suspicious of the sudden change, so she asked the obvious question.

"Although I do not regret you surviving Wolf and his team, you weren't supposed to and I know that you wouldn't have risked your own safety by calling when you're meant to be dead, so I have to ask, why _are_ you checking in now?" Mrs. Jones asked, her voice loaded with distrust.

Erin took a deep breath and spoke, measuring every word carefully.

"I'm with my Father now, and Alex is with us." She said slowly, making sure she didn't give away too much in one go.

"Why is Alex there? We thought he'd deserted." Mrs. Jones asked, obviously puzzled.

Erin shrugged, but then remembered she was speaking on a phone.

"I dunno, I think he got hurt or something so my Father saved him. Something like that. It's hard to get the full story; they hate each other's guts so they keep attacking one another. Alex has a broken ankle and rib though, and he's out in the snow."

Mrs. Jones made a noise that sounded like she wasn't pleased by this turn of events, but she remained on topic.

"And where is your Father Erin?" she asked carefully.

Erin narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist.

"What makes you think that I'd tell you that? I may not be close to him, but the man is my Father and I don't want him dead, no matter what he's done." She snarled.

Mrs. Jones seemed to put her hand over the phone on her end and talk quickly to someone for a couple of seconds. Then, she responded quickly.

"Alright Erin, I've been patient so far, but another storm is coming soon and the SAS unit on location needs their mission specs before then. So I'm only going to ask once, what are you offering here?"

Erin chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, wincing when she bit the still bleeding cut. Once she was decided on what she was going to say, Erin began.

"What I'm offering is simple: if you allow my Father and I to escape unharmed, I will call you with Alex's location. I will also leave enough documentation for you to have sufficient information to bring Liberty down. However, this is _only_ if my Father and I are left unharmed. Do you understand me? There is no negotiation."

Mrs. Jones talked to whoever was in her office again, but this time, she was gone for awhile. When she finally came back, there was a bad tempered tone to her voice that suggested to Erin that she wasn't happy with what had been agreed to.

"Erin, my superiors have said they find your terms acceptable. As soon as you and your Father are out of range, we will send an SAS team to the location you specify. However, how can we be sure you will keep your end of the bargain up? Especially concerning Alex, how do we know you won't kill him?"

Erin smirked to herself.

"Good. As for your questions…You don't know, do you? I guess you'll just have to trust me. Anyway, I wouldn't kill Alex. Truth be told, I think I'd like to take a break from the killing. Maybe see a therapist perhaps?"

Then Erin laughed. Mrs. Jones did as well, a little uneasily though. They both knew that she was in need of professional help, but they both also knew that Erin would never get it willingly. Erin started to speak again, but a loud crash interrupted her. Startled, she stood up and listened carefully. Downstairs, there were a myriad of scuffling noises, interspersed with muted conversation.

'_Yassen got Alex out of the snow…The security chain's been broken, I'm the only one who could have done it…I've got seconds maybe to get rid of the phone, if I'm found with it, I'm as good as dead…'_

Trying not to panic, Erin hurriedly picked the phone up again. Mrs. Jones was shouting at her through the phone.

"Erin?! Are you still there?!"

Erin clamped her hand over the phone's speaker.

"I have to go; I'll call again later with further information!" She hissed, pressing the 'end call' button hard. She barely had time to shove the phone under a corner of blanket and sit on top of it before the door crashed open and Yassen stormed into the room with Alex who was barely managing to limp behind him. Erin opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but she didn't have the chance. Yassen grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her sharply up so she had to stand to avoid being choked.

"What have you done?" he snapped, speaking in Russian. Alex looked between the two of them, obviously confused.

"Y-Yassen, why are you-"

The furious glare that the Russian shot in Alex's direction shut him up immediately.

Yassen turned back to Erin.

"Tell me what you've done!" he ordered, face even paler then normal due to anger.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about!" Erin stuttered, dropping her gaze in a manner that told her Father that she did indeed know. Yassen slapped her viciously, causing Erin to fall backwards. As she fell, Erin reached out desperately for something to break her fall. Her hands grabbed onto the blanket of the bed she'd been sitting on, and the blanket was ripped off the bed, taking the satellite phone with it. The machine clattered to the wooden floor noisily. Everyone froze when they saw it, obviously realizing its implications. Yassen stirred first, looking at Erin who was getting up from the ground. The Russian looked shocked, and even a little disappointed (Alex wasn't sure though, it was nigh impossible to read anything on the man's face even when he was angry or amused).

"Erin…who did you call?" Yassen asked, voice much more unsure then Alex had ever heard. For a minute he was sure Erin wouldn't answer. Then, she bit her lip (Alex noticed for the first time there was a trickle of fresh blood dripping from her bottom lip) and seemed to give in.

"I called MI6." She stated in a dead voice that made Alex wince. Yassen's expression was impossible to decipher, but he looked upset rather then angry.

"Why would you do that after they tried to kill you?" he asked, voice amazingly level.

Erin took a shaky breath in.

"I told them that if they left you and I unharmed, I would tell them where to find documents and files that would help them destroy Liberty." She muttered, not meeting anyone's eye.

Yassen didn't look convinced; he raised a brow and folded his arms.

"And that's _all_ you offered MI6?" he asked in a tone of polite incredulity.

Erin gingerly at her cut lip and made a face.

"Not…Not exactly." She seemed unwilling to go on for a minute, so Yassen spoke up.

"What else did you offer them?" he asked, voice heavily loaded with suspicion.

Erin sighed and looked up sheepishly. Alex knew straight away from the way she stared right at him that he wasn't going to like this last thing.

"I sort of said I'd give Alex up to MI6…" she said, obviously braced for an explosion. It didn't take long.

"You did _**what**_?!" Alex yelled, surprising both Yassen and Erin; both had thought he was still out cold. He didn't pay their shock any attention, he kept on yelling.

"There's no way! They thought I've deserted, they were _going_ to leave me alone before you went and told them where I was!"

Erin scowled and clenched her fists. It seemed the pair was only seconds away from launching World War Three, but then Yassen interceded.

"Stop!"

It was only a single word, but coming from him, it was an order that neither of them dared disobey. Alex glared at Yassen, but didn't push the matter. With a grunt, he dropped his gaze, shot one last hostile look at Erin before backing down. Erin did likewise, wiping her chin clean of blood. Yassen glanced between the two of them, and relaxed. If both Alex and Erin stayed calm for a couple of minutes, he might be able to get all the information he needed. The Russian shook his head.

'_Erin and Alex cooperating? That's a pretty big 'If'.' _


	25. Location, Location, Location

**Chapter 22, Location, location, location**

In her office, Mrs. Jones rubbed her temples distractedly. Blunt stood looking out the window whilst an MI6 technician worked silently in a corner of the room. He wore a headset and was replaying a sound file on a laptop; it contained Mrs. Jones' latest call. The call with Erin. The technician suddenly stiffened, mouthing something quietly to himself. Then, he looked up. Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt were alert straight away.

"It wasn't easy, she had a scrambler code on the call, but I got a set of final co-ordinations on Erin's call location." The technician said, nervously avoiding everyone's eye. There was something bad going on here, he knew it even without the misgivings he felt about working against a 15 year old.

Alan Blunt didn't seem to share his hesitancy; he immediately turned to his deputy.

"Send the data to the SAS team right now!" He snapped. The technician raised a brow, the amount of emotion betrayed in his boss' voice was unusual and that was a severe understatement. Something very bad must be happening for Blunt to be worrying like this. Mrs. Jones nodded and picked her phone up and started shooting out directions to whoever was on the line rapid-fire. Blunt turned to face the technician.

"Good job, you may go now. Just make sure you send me the mayor's number within the hour. It is exceedingly important that I get in touch now that we have our coordinates." He said, blinking slowly in what the technician assumed was supposed to be a calming measure. The man nodded, packed his equipment into a metal briefcase and left the room, hastening to escape the dark, uneasy atmosphere that was slowly spreading throughout the entire building.

In the office, Blunt was being ignored by Mrs. Jones, they both knew they couldn't afford so much as seconds on being polite when so much was at stake. Mind categorically going through the countless strategies and plans that inhabited it, Blunt walked to the huge window that dominated Mrs. Jones' office. As it had for the last two weeks, rain poured outside, leaving long rivulets of water that dripped slowly down the glass. Feeling oddly drained, Alan Blunt let out a tiny sigh and stared out the window ponderously. He very much hoped that the SAS team's mission went successfully. It shouldn't be too hard when they had the exact location of their target. Yassen, Erin and Alex were like mice trapped in a cage with a snake. The trio had no where to run.

"Got them." Blunt muttered out loud.

**A/N sorry for the short chappie, but it's only meant to be a brief snapshot of what's happening in London. I know a few people are wondering what Blunt meant by 'Give me the mayor's number.' Well, it's not the number of the mayor of London (does London have a mayor?). All the other things that probably didn't make much sense in this chappie (Like the sense of urgency that was dictating much of the character's actions) are going to be explained later on. They're all of crucial importance to story, so don't disregard these little conversations and sentences as slip up's in my writing. They're not.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading the chappie and being so patient. I give all my loyal readers a fervent thankyou; this wouldn't be any fun if it weren't for the responses I get from you. **


	26. All Expenses Paid Vacation

**Chapter 23, All Expenses Paid Vacation**

Erin leant against the wall; eyes clenched shut against the pain that was battering her mercilessly. What little pain medication she's had in her system had worn off, and her bullet wound was causing her terrible pain. Downstairs, she heard Yassen talking to Alex, probably dosing him up with hot drinks and generally making sure that Alex wasn't going to randomly keel over. Alex may have got past the immediate danger of hypothermia, but the possibility of getting severely and possibly fatally ill was still a genuine danger for him.

Breathing out heavily through her nose, Erin braced herself and stood up slowly. The torn muscle and tissue in her shoulder screamed in protest. Swaying slightly, she stumbled down the staircase and into the kitchen. Alex looked up from where he was sitting grumpily at the table. The foul temper seemed to be a result of their argument. The fact that he wrapped up like a marshmallow in thick blankets probably didn't help. Erin couldn't help but smirk at the humiliation he was doubtlessly feeling.

"I wish I had a camera." She declared sweetly, her innocent smile marred slightly by the way her teeth were clenched tightly.

Alex scowled, but didn't respond. He picked up the mug in front of him and took a long swig from it. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he did so, fixing his stare at a point just behind Erin. Erin raised a brow and turned around. Yassen stood watching her, carrying a nylon laptop case in one hand.

"Coming downstairs just to argue is unusually immature, even for you Erin." The Russian noted.

Erin dropped her hostile glare.

"I didn't come down to argue." She muttered.

"I'm so glad to hear that." Yassen said with just a touch of sarcasm, moving to the table and deftly unpacking the laptop.

"Why _did_ you decide to grace us with your presence then?" Alex asked, putting his drink down with a thud.

Erin mumbled something under her breath. Alex frowned at her.

"What?" he asked.

Erin sighed and looked up.

"I came to ask for some pain meds." She stated, grimly but otherwise perfectly clear.

Alex smiled widely, obviously delighted to be able to mock her.

"I wish I had a voice recorder!" he said, imitating Erin's previous comment. "So I could record this great moment, Erin begging!"

Yassen shook his head, but otherwise didn't look up from where he was busy on his laptop.

Erin started to tense herself, but her aching muscles gave a spasm of pain. With a whimper, she stopped what she was doing. Alex's smile grew in size.

"Poor Erin, do you need my blanket?" He asked, in a mockingly worried baby voice. He stood and offered his mug.

"Or maybe you should have some nice hot milk to calm your nerves?" he asked, an evil glint in his eyes. Alex was enjoying needling Erin far too much to worry about the repercussions. Erin lost it then, she was in pain, worried and Alex's hostile attitude towards her was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM RIDER?!" She screamed, "WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP _DOING_ THIS TO ME?!"

Alex's eyes widened in shock at her outburst, but his surprise was short lived. He quickly regained his composure and returned the verbal onslaught in kind.

"IT'S YOUR OWN BLOODY FAULT, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTED ALL THIS BY DRAGGING ME INTO MI6!!!" He shouted back, fists clenched. Alex stood up abruptly, blankets sliding off his shoulders. Erin started to reply, but she suddenly tensed and turned around sharply.

Yassen was standing in view from the kitchen, by the front door. The Russian was absolutely still and silent, his eyes revealed an intense level of focus. On what, neither Alex nor Erin was sure. Both the teens fell quiet, curious. Concentrating, Erin heard something from outside: The faintest noise of crunching footstep over snow. Then, nothing. Alex opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but he never had the chance. Yassen suddenly darted away from the door a split second before it imploded with a loud explosion. A smoke grenade's cloud of crimson obscured Alex's view, so he never saw the men storming in through. He heard them though, a dull thudding noise as combat booted feet invaded the house through the gaping opening that was a front door. Alex was frozen with shock, mind still struggling to catch up to the events. In his confused state, he barely reacted when a man suddenly loomed out of the smoke. The stranger grabbed Alex and opened his mouth to shout, presumably an alert to his comrades. However, the man suddenly released his grip on Alex. His eyes rolled up, and he toppled sideways, a hole in the side of his neck pouring blood, some of which dripped onto Alex's front. Recoiling in disgust, he looked up. Yassen was standing in front of him impassively, a large serrated knife that was dripping blood in one hand. The Russian motioned for him to be silent, the other men were still crashing and screaming wildly through the house, and only sheer luck had prevented them from being caught so far. Alex gave a brisk nod to show he understood. He followed Yassen quickly through the rapidly thinning smoke to the staircase. Bodies running through the smoke loomed out randomly from all directions; it was a struggle not to crash into people. Once they were at the staircase, Yassen crouched. Alex did likewise. He watched in surprise as the Russian knocked quietly at one of the large wooden squares that made up the side of the staircase.

The square swung open a little on well oiled hinges, Erin squatted behind in what appeared to be a small room. Rushing now, Alex followed Yassen into the small space, barely getting in before Erin pulled the door shut. As soon as she did so, it was pitch black in the space, a tiny bar of light leaking out from underneath the door. There was a tiny crack, and green light suddenly appeared. Yassen held a snap activated light, similar to the ones children bought at circuses and concerts. He took a second to check that both Erin and Alex were okay before moving further away from the door. To Alex's amazement, there was a narrow staircase that led steeply down into what looked like shaft.

"The house used to have an underground level." Erin whispered by Alex's ear, so quietly that he had to strain to hear her. He gave a silent nod and followed (not without a fair amount of trepidation) as Yassen led the way down the staircase. After about half a minute's progress, Erin seemed to associate some landmark with safety, because she began to speak.

"Who were they? They were wearing combat clothing and they were well trained whoever they were." She stated voice low.

Yassen didn't miss a beat in answering.

"That doesn't narrow it down, many terrorist organizations, Liberty included, use military equipment. However, it was a good indicator of our attacker's identities."

Erin frowned, obviously not satisfied by her Father's answer. There was a moment's silence as the stairs levelled out into a narrow, roughly made passageway. It led on through the dark, slowly sloping upwards. It seemed that they were underground, making slow progress upwards.

Yassen seemed to know that his answer wasn't shedding any light, so he addressed Alex.

"Did you recognise any of them?" he asked.

Alex frowned, trying to concentrate on his footing whilst answering.

"No, why should I? I've never-" He trailed off mid-sentence, realization suddenly dawning on him. Alex stopped where he was and looked at Yassen.

"They were SAS soldiers!" He exclaimed, starting forward again as Erin poked him in the shoulder.

Yassen nodded as he continued leading the way through the passage.

"You are correct; I recognised their Kevlar jackets and their specific attack method. Just a tip, mainly for you Erin; SAS soldiers' bullet proof jackets don't protect their necks, aim there for maximum damage."

Erin peered at her Father suspiciously.

"I thought you never wanted me to be a killer?" she asked, half wary, half curious.

Ahead of her, Yassen appeared to shrug.

"Things change." The Russian said, so quietly that Alex thought that maybe he wasn't meant to be heard. Unsure exactly what was going on, Alex continued following the other two silently for a few more minutes. Soon, a distant pinprick of light appeared, heralding escape from the dark tunnel. Encouraged by this prospect, Alex picked up his pace and began to jog.

Suddenly, Yassen stopped. Alex and Erin did likewise, glancing at each other in confusion. Looking ahead, Alex began to worry. Yassen was standing very still, looking very tense. Erin seemed to draw some conclusion from this; she gave a hiss and closed her eyes. Confused, Alex tried to see what was causing the hold-up, but the tunnel was too narrow; he could only see Yassen's back. Then, a low, menacing voice echoed through the tunnel.

"Drop your weapon now!"

Only then did Alex notice that Yassen had pulled out a handgun, the action had been so subtle he'd missed it. Erin had gone pale, she looked very worried.

"Drop the weapon now, last warning!"

Panicking slightly, Alex shoved past Erin to stand just behind Yassen. Then, he saw what had caused everyone to freeze.

Six SAS soldiers wearing balaclava's and combat gear stood approximately 5 metres in front of them, every one of them looking extremely scared and holding an absurdly large gun. Yassen didn't move, but Alex saw that the Russian was tense, every muscle in his body coiled tightly as if in preparation to spring. The SAS soldiers seemed to notice it too, the one who'd spoken before raised his gun level with Yassen's head.

"Do it Gregorovich, don't make me match the hole Cray put in you!"

Yassen still didn't move, but Alex knew it was not from fear. The Russian was furious, never before had he been caught out like this. The SAS soldiers all raised their weapons, and it seemed like they were about to shoot. Not knowing exactly what he was doing, Alex suddenly stepped out in into the space between the two parties. He turned to face Yassen.

"What are you doing?!" He hissed, "Do you _want_ to get killed? Didn't you learn your lesson on Air Force One?!"

Yassen pressed his lips together irritably, but after a minute's hesitation, the Russian released his death grip on the gun. The weapon clattered to the stone ground with a metallic clatter. Behind him, Erin did the same. Immediately, the SAS soldiers surged forward. One rushed forward to Alex and removed his balaclava. Alex started as Wolf was revealed abruptly.

"Cub! Thank God you're alive!" The soldier exclaimed, "We had no idea whether you'd be killed or not."

Alex frowned slightly, ignoring the sounds of a scuffle behind him.

"Why would I be killed?" He asked, "How did you find me…us?"

Wolf smirked.

"When Erin made her call, we tracked her using the phone's signal. Pretty stupid of her to forget we could do that." He said with a slight laugh. "Now come on, we're going back to headquarters now."

Alex opened his mouth to respond, but he turned around to look behind him instead. Erin was being forcibly restrained by an extremely pissed off looking soldier. She was lashing out wildly, struggling to get free, but she was outweighed. Slightly apart from her, Yassen was silent, on his knees with both hands being held up behind his head. Apart from an angry gleam in his eyes, the Russian was calm and cast a curious glance in Alex's direction. Yassen seemed to be oblivious to the four SAS soldiers standing guard over him, all of whom looked terrified to be near the Russian. Alex didn't say anything; he wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel about the scene. Frowning slightly, Wolf put a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Cub? We need to go now; my men will deal with this."

Alex didn't move, his expression looked as if he was struggling to think of something. Then, after a second's deliberation, he looked up and faced Wolf.

"No." Alex said quietly, shaking his head a little.

Silence fell in the tunnel as his speech echoed around eerily. Wolf stirred first and frowned.

"Cub, you don't understand, we're taking you away now where you'll be safe-"

Alex suddenly scowled and interrupted.

"No! You don't understand, I'm staying and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" He snapped. Behind him, both Yassen and Erin were listening, probably nonplussed by his odd behaviour.

Wolf shook his head and rolled his eyes. With a sigh, he reached forward to grab Alex by the arm. He stopped abruptly as Alex bent down quickly and straightened up again, Yassen's gun in his left hand.

"Alex what are you-" Wolf never got a chance to continue, Alex smoothly brought his other hand up to grip the weapon steadily. He shifted into a stance he vaguely remembered from firearms training in Scorpia. Around him, all the SAS soldiers were slow to react, they were supposed to be rescuing the boy, yet he was resisting and was holding them all at gunpoint.

"I told you, I'm staying with the others!" Alex said, voice grim. He wasn't sure what was prompting his act of loyalty to Yassen and Erin, but he felt that it was the right thing to do for some reason. Wolf scowled and looked angry now.

"Stop being stupid Alex, we're not going to put you in custody, we were sent here to rescue you." He snapped.

Shaking his head, Alex spoke.

"Well, I tried to warn you." He shrugged as if to reject any responsibility for the followings. Then, he pulled on the trigger. The gun gave a loud bang and Alex felt the recoil all through his arms. The gun was more powerful then any weapon he'd used before. All the SAS soldiers ducked, but there was no need. The shot had been designed to make a point, not to injure. A single bullet had drilled into the rock, between Wolf's feet. The soldier looked a little shocked, as if he hadn't thought Alex capable of shooting.

Alex gave a slight smile.

"There, I opened fire on SAS troops, so you have no choice but to either shoot back or take me into custody. It's your choice, but I'd prefer custody." He said, obviously very pleased with himself.

Wolf shook his head, but gave a sigh and gave in.

"Alright, fine, we'll play your immature little game." He growled, motioning for one of the soldiers guarding Yassen to take care of him.

Alex gave a smile that was borderline sarcastic, but didn't react as he was roughly put in handcuffs and dragged over to Yassen and Erin. He felt his knees being kicked out from underneath him and Alex ended up kneeling. The soldier's attention shifted to Erin, the look on her face suggested a re-run of her struggle in the campsite. One particular soldier instinctively put a hand up to his chin, Alex smirked to himself, it was obvious he was the one who'd been kicked by Erin. This time however, they weren't taking any chances with the girl. Erin barely had time to draw breath before she was smashed from behind with the butt of one of the soldier's guns. Erin was out cold before she hit the ground. Once she was taken care of, they moved towards Yassen. Before one of them even raised their weapons, the Russian looked around and glared furiously at them. Immediately, the soldiers backed off, seemingly trying to escape Yassen's cold, blue eyes.

"I wouldn't" The Russian warned quietly, "I'll come quietly anyway."

The SAS soldiers backed off quickly, nodding hard. Wolf growled at his men's cowardice, but didn't do anything other then snarl,

"No talking!"

Alex gave a snigger, and felt rather then heard the two soldiers move over to behind him. He turned around and tried to give the men the same treatment as Yassen, but for his trouble, ended up getting the gun in his chest. Incapacitated by the blow which was also directly over his old sniper wound, Alex fell to the ground, winded.

"Ass…hole!" he managed to gasp out.

Above him, Wolf shrugged.

"You asked for the royal treatment as well." He said in a reasonable, albeit amused voice.

Yassen spoke at this.

"I presume that most of this is for my benefit, but I feel inclined to ask, why exactly are we being given 'the royal treatment' instead of being killed on the spot?" The Russian asked in a tone that suggested that he was only mildly curious about his ultimate fate.

Wolf crouched down so he was eye to eye with Yassen.

"The reason you and your daughter here weren't shot straight away is both of your presences are required at MI6 headquarters ASAP."

To the side of the pair, Erin had regained consciousness in time to hear this.

"Oh shit no!" She moaned, not picking herself off the ground.

Wolf smiled at her reaction. He grabbed her by her uninjured shoulder and pulled her up into a kneeling position.

"Think of it as your all expense paid holiday to Greater London!" he suggested lightly, standing fluidly. Erin didn't reply, she merely scowled at the ground. Wolf watched her for a second before remarking,

"I suggest you do as you're told if you want to avoid having your head bashed in by a blunt object again."

Just then, one of the soldiers' radios gave a squawk. The man picked it up and spoke rapidly, too quietly for Alex to hear. Then, he put it back on his belt.

"Transport's ready sir!" he said loudly. Wolf nodded once and turned to the men standing guard over Alex, Yassen and Erin.

"Get them up!" he barked, turning back around to talk quickly to his radio man. Alex winced as he was picked up off the ground and dragged forward, towards the end of the tunnel. No one spoke during this short journey, but Alex noticed that no one was dragging Yassen. The Russian had his hands cuffed in front of him and walked on his won, although two bulky soldiers stood either side of him, looking wary. After a minute's walking, the party emerged from the tunnel and stepped out into a blindingly bright, sunny day. Alex squinted as his eyes took in too much sunlight.

A huge Black Ford Expedition with tinted windows was parked under a pine tree, sunlight glinting off the shiny body. As they trudged through the snow towards it, Alex realised that there were only enough seats in the car for 5 people, and there were 9 of them.

"There's not enough seats for all of us." He muttered, more to himself then to the soldiers. Wolf heard him however and gave a laugh.

"Trust me; there'll be enough room for all of us." He said, keeping his eyes fixed on the car. Up close, Alex saw why the SAS man had said that, there was a seat-less space in the back of the car that was usually used for cargo. The space was empty and one look at it told Alex that it was a big enough spot for a couple of people. With a sigh, Alex followed dejectedly as his guard pulled him along to the back of the car. The boot door was already open. Alex didn't have time to protest before he was thrown bodily into the back of the car.

He landed hard, a protruding metal nail of some sort scratching his cheek. Sore, he raised himself in time to see Erin be tossed in behind him. She was luckier; the girl landed on a smooth area and quickly sat herself up next to Alex. They both watched curiously as the SAS soldiers guarding Yassen warily backed off. The Russian looked grim, but began climbing in after Alex and Erin on his own. As he did, one of the soldiers's pulled out a tazer and before Alex could give a warning, gave Yassen the good news with it. It doubtlessly hurt like hell, but Yassen merely gave a grunt and gingerly continued climbing in. His eyes had a vicious glint in them though as he sat cross legged across from Alex and Erin. Alex could tell the Russian would like nothing better then to take out the entire SAS team there and then. Alex scowled as one of the soldiers climbed in after them and sat with his back to the boot's door. The assault rifle that he cradled said it all without the man having to open his mouth. The rest of the man's team piled into the car, Wolf climbed into the driver's seat. Once they were all settled, the radio man spoke up again.

"Sir, stage one will begin in exactly one minute, I suggest we remove ourselves from the vicinity before then."

Erin perked up at that.

"What's stage one?" she asked.

Wolf made an exasperated noise and nodded at the man sitting in the back with the captured trio. Once more, Erin got the good news from the butt of the gun. Luckily for her, it was not quite so hard this time. It was hard enough however, to shut her up.

"No talking!" Wolf snapped.

Then, he started the car up. The engine roared into life and suddenly, it was speeding over the snow and through the evergreen forest.

"20 seconds to initiation!" the radio man yelled out, struggling to be heard over the car's engine. Alex tensed himself, instinctively knowing that something was about to happen.

"15 seconds!"

Wolf gave a grunt and pressed down on the accelerator hard. The Expedition leapt forward, speed doubled.

"10 seconds!"

Yassen went completely still, looking through the window over Alex's head. The look on his face was one of cold impassivity. Alex slowly turned around in time to see the Liberty base camp through the trees. The image only lasted a split second before it dissolved into an immense ball of fire. An enormous explosion burst into life, debris, snow and dirt being thrown in every direction. Even though the Liberty base (or what remained of it) was a good 10 kilometres away, the sound of the explosion was deafening, Alex and Erin clapped their hands over their ears, wincing as a shockwave ripped though the forest. The Expedition was only just ahead of it, tress mere metres behind them crashed to the ground as the shockwave of the explosion chased the fleeing vehicle. Yassen barely reacted; the sound didn't seem to bother him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the explosion died out. The fire died out into a group of small separate blazes and all the debris thrown into the air plummeted out of the sky, probably killing anyone unlucky enough to be caught underneath. Then, Alex shook himself; Liberty was a terrorist organization and deserved any misfortune it received.

As the former site of enormous firepower was annihilated in a storm of fire and debris, all the SAS soldiers gave a cheer. It was obvious now what 'stage one' was. Liberty's headquarters was no more, and hopefully neither was the organization.

"What the hell was that?!" Erin half gasped, obviously stunned by the sheer power of the explosion.

Wolf glanced at her over the seat, his smile revealing too many teeth to be truly friendly.

"That, Erin, was a little something that half the British defence force has been working on for a year."

Yassen glared at Wolf as he said that.

"Well, your little British toy just destroyed my employers." He snapped.

Wolf snorted.

"What a pity. Since when have you cared about human life anyway?" He asked, never taking his eyes off the snow in front of them.

Yassen gave a short laugh.

"I don't, when I say 'my employers' I actually mean 'my money'." The Russian admitted. Wolf shook his head in amusement.

"I feel so bad." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No more talking."

Yassen narrowed his eyes angrily, and shot something out in Russian rapid fire. Erin gave a furious nod and spat to the side of her. This time, sheer intimidation alone wasn't enough to guarantee that Yassen remained untouched. The Russian was given the same treatment as Alex and Erin, only the SAS soldier who delivered the blow was only too happy to put plenty of muscle behind the swing. Yassen didn't pretend the hit didn't hurt; he jerked forward, and spat something out in Russian. Erin narrowed her eyes, but obviously loath to encourage any further displays of force from the SAS soldiers, didn't respond. Yassen glared angrily at his attacker, but didn't speak again. Alex noticed that the gun had left a scratch over Yassen's right eyebrow; it was bleeding profusely, so he motioned to the Russian by tapping the spot on his own forehead. Yassen nodded his thanks and grimly wiped the cut, smearing the blood with his sleeve. Erin hissed when she saw the cut, but went back to looking out the window quickly. Alex pursed his lips angrily, but like Yassen, stayed silent and still. The drive was going to be a long one, and Alex wasn't at all looking forward to the 'all expenses paid holiday' that Wolf had promised at the end. However, despite his misgivings, Alex didn't say or do anything for the entire drive.


	27. Still Human

**Chapter 24, Still Human**

For hours, Alex, Yassen and Erin stayed perfectly silent and still as the Expedition sped through the snowy evergreen forest. The three of them were wrapped up in their own worlds, each to busy with their thoughts to bother making eye contact. Wolf and his men were silent too; their previous good mood at the destruction of the Liberty terrorist camp had died out and turned into an air of tense concentration. It would be fairly obvious who's destroyed the camp and Liberty had resources spread out through the woods that surrounded the camp. Helicopters circled constantly in the air searching for them, the clatter of their rotors echoing oddly through the trees. Somehow though, the expedition hadn't been seen yet, but Alex felt sure it was only a matter of time. Behind them, a thick, black plume of snow marked where the bomb had been detonated.

Alex took in his surroundings eagerly at first, but as hour after ticked by, he slowly started to drift off. Pure adrenalin had fought off the effects of his hypothermia, but now, as things slowed down, he felt himself grow drowsy. Erin didn't look much more alert then him, her eyes were half closed and her breathing was slow and deep. Yassen was still sitting upright, eyes fixed on the window across from him. The vicious glint hadn't left his eyes yet, although the cut above his eyebrow had stopped bleeding. Alex stretched, trying not to doze off. He didn't want to be caught unawares by anything, by placing his loyalties with Yassen and firing at SAS soldiers, he'd effectively made himself a prisoner and traitor to his country. At least, that was what one of Wolf's men had muttered. It made no difference though, Alex's instincts had told him it was the right thing to do at the time, and he'd followed them.

Whilst thinking about all this, Erin had shaken herself awake. Pulling herself up into a proper sitting position, she glanced over at the SAS soldier who was sitting in the back of the car with them. The man wasn't asleep, but he didn't look particularly alert either, he was simply staring into space. Yassen followed his daughter's gaze and seemed to note the SAS guard's apparent daze with unusual interest. Alex felt faint concern stir within him when he saw Erin exchange a meaningful glance with Yassen. The pair obviously had something in mind, and Alex wasn't sure it would be anything good.

Just then, Yassen looked up and caught Alex's eye. The Russian raised a brow and Alex nodded slowly, although he wasn't sure what he was nodding and there for agreeing to. Then, Yassen subtly gestured to their guard, his handcuffs making the slightest noise as he did so. None of Wolf's men seemed to notice, a helicopter was just visible through the trees above them, and its rotors were loud enough to cut through even the noise of the engine. Worried, Wolf looked up and muttered,

"First rule of sniping, if you can see them, they can probably see you…don't give the position away…"

Realization suddenly dawned on Alex as Wolf said that, he quickly turned back to face Yassen. The Russian met his glare evenly. Alex tried to communicate his misgivings on the Russian's plan through eye contact, Yassen merely frowned at him and Alex knew he'd have to try something less subtle. Rolling his eyes, Alex started mouthing his words.

'_Don't do this! You're not stupid, so don't do this!'_

Yassen's eyes narrowed and all his face drained of all emotion until it was his normal impassive mask. Alex clenched his eyes shut for a minute trying to think of how to effectively make his point without alerting his captors. When he opened his eyes, Erin had joined in.

'_None of us want to end up in MI6 HQ, especially not him'_, here, she motioned to Yassen, _'We __**need**__ to escape before we get to whatever RV point they have planned… We need to escape __**now**__!' _

Alex gave a reluctant nod, he knew that what she said was true, there was a good chance that he survive being presented to MI6 as a prisoner, even Erin had a good shot of surviving if she just kept her mouth shut (_which_, Alex thought, _means that maybe she doesn't have such a good chance after all_), but there was no way Yassen would be allowed to live by MI6, they'd been after him for years, and would enjoy finally having the opportunity to end him once and for all.

Shaking his head in reluctant defeat, Alex looked up and met Yassen's eye. Although the Russian had caused the hell in Alex's life by murdering his only family, Alex had seen him 'killed' once and knew that he didn't want to go through dealing with the pain and confusion that came with the man being dead again. In other words, Alex respected Yassen.

_Sort of…_ he thought to himself.

Yassen gave a slight cough, trying to get Alex's attention, so he shook himself and looked up again. The Russian obviously wanted to know if he'd changed his mind.

_Not that it makes a difference, they're going to do whatever it is they're planning whether I like it or not_, Alex thought grimly.

Then, he sighed and gave a single nod. Before Yassen looked away again, Alex mouthed a question,

'_You do know we're travelling at 130 kilometres an hour, right?'_

Yassen looked deeply amused by the question. He nodded once and shrugged as if to say, what of it? Shaking his head in disbelief, Alex grimly asked in a faint whisper,

"What do I need to do?"

Beside him, the SAS soldier stirred slightly. Yassen glanced at him briefly before answering Alex.

"Just follow Erin's lead, she's done this before." The Russian's voice was barely audible as he gave Alex his instructions.

Alex gave a single nod and tensed himself, ready for whatever was to come. He didn't have to wait long. Erin screamed something at the top of her lungs in Russian and threw herself at the SAS guard sitting in the back with them. Startled, the man shook himself awake and scrabbled desperately at his assault rifle. Alex didn't let him get to it, he launched himself forwards and managed to wrest the gun of the man as Erin somehow got one of her hands un-cuffed. She used the handcuffs as a weapon, swinging them around to gain momentum before smashing them into the SAS man's face. He went down, howling and clutching his broken nose. Alex gave him a last kick in the ribs for good measure before turning to see what else was being done. Erin had her arms around the throat of one of the other SAS men from behind. One of his friends was trying to get an aim on Erin, so Alex jumped over the seat divider and attacked the SAS soldier. The man was strong, but Alex was faster, giving him an advantage. Erin managed to toss him a gun and Alex used it to repay the SAS man for his kindness by pistol whipping the man hard. The soldier was out cold, but the other man in the back was already prepared. Erin was still struggling with the other SAS man, and Yassen was fighting off the other two in the front of the car, so Alex was left to wrestle with the man on his own. The SAS soldier managed to produce a commando knife, which Alex didn't notice until it cut a long, shallow line down his right arm. Giving a shout of pain, Alex backed off. Then, an opportunity presented itself. Erin had been thrown back into the cargo area, and her opponent climbed in after her in an effort to restrain her. Alex quickly shuffled back and braced himself against the car door, before kicking out with all his strength at the soldier advancing on his. His aim was true, there was a sickening crack as the SAS mans jaw broke, and he passed out cold. Alex catapulted himself over the seats into the cargo area to help out Erin, but there was no need. With a final growl of anger, Erin pushed the unconscious SAS man away from her. He took a split-second to check she was okay. As soon as they were both sure neither one was injured, Alex and Erin instinctively turned to face the front at the same time.

The SAS soldier in the passenger seat was slumped against the dashboard, seemingly unconscious. Wolf was wrestling for control of the steering wheel with Yassen; Alex could tell that both were injured somehow, but neither man would back down. It was then Erin screamed a warning,

"No! Stop! The front!"

Everything seemed to go in slow motion then. Alex looked out the windscreen and saw that the car had hit a patch of ice; they were well and truly out of control. An outcrop of rock loomed in the distance; they were headed straight for it. Alex had no doubt that if it came to a collision, the rock would come out best. Yassen and Wolf both stopped what they were doing for a moment, both of them saw the danger immediately. Wolf shouted something, but Alex was in too much shock to understand; all he saw was the man's mouth moving, but no sounds seemed to come out. Then, the illusion of going in slow motion ended. With an enormous crash, the Expedition smashed into the outcrop at 100 kph and rebounded into a huge pine tree. Alex and Erin were thrown to floor savagely, everything turned into a chaotic storm of smashing glass, metal buckling and shouts. Then, there was silence. Alex lay where he was sprawled on the car's floor for a minute, everything hurt like hell and he felt incapable of doing anything but slowly breathing in and out. After awhile, he slowly rose from the ground, dizzy and confused. Oddly, there was red paint everywhere, all over him, on the seats and splashed on the windows. Then, as clarity came back to him, Alex gave a moan. It wasn't paint, it was blood.

Panic quickly took control of his actions. Alex sat up as fast as he could, but there wasn't much he could do. The car was a tangled wreck, and broken glass and metal coated everything. Alex weakly cleared his throat and tried calling out.

"E-Erin?"

There was no response, so Alex tried again.

"Yassen? Wolf?"

There was still no reply, so Alex began to feebly search for everyone else. The SAS guard from the back was fine, as far he could tell anyway. Half buried in debris, Alex found the three SAS guards who'd been in the back seats. One of them was badly injured; Alex could see bone protruding from just below the knee. The other two didn't look too bad, so Alex kept looking. Nearby, he found Erin. She was buried under a layer of broken glass and unconscious. There was a nasty looking gash down her neck and what looked like a mild head injury, but Alex didn't think anything was fatal, provided they got help quickly. Alex tentatively shook her. Erin stayed out cold, and Alex noted suddenly with a horrified jolt that she wasn't breathing. Scared, he checked her pulse. It was jittery, but defiantly there. Alex checked Erin's mouth to see if anything was constricting her breathing, but there wasn't. So, he did the only the thing he could think of. Alex performed mouth to mouth resuscitation, half scared senseless, half wincing and what Erin would do to him when she found out about this. After half a minute, Erin still wasn't breathing, and Alex was shocked to feel tears running down his dirt stained cheeks.

'_What the hell? Why am I crying?'_

Alex was on the verge of giving up, when Erin suddenly took a deep breathe in and came to, spluttering wildly. She opened her eyes quickly, before Alex had a chance to move away. For a second, both of them just stared at each other in shock. Then, Erin thrust Alex away from her.

"Oh…My…God!" She rasped, "What were you _doing_?!"

Alex felt annoyance flicker into life.

"I was saving your _life_! You weren't breathing, what else was I supposed to do?!" He snapped, very put out. The one time he did something nice for her, it was shoved back in his face! Erin listened to him, seemingly dumbstruck by Alex's outburst. Then, she looked up again, her expression very frightened.

"What about my Father? Where is he?!" She asked, voice trembling slightly.

Alex slowly turned to look to the front of the car. When the car had hit the tree, a massive branch had gone straight through the car, separating the back from the front. Alex could barely see through the maze of branches and pine needles to the front seats. He could however see a hand reaching feebly through branches. It had the tanned complexion that Wolf had, Alex gulped nervously.

"W-Wolf?" He asked, not sure what else to do. His answer was quick coming.

"B-bloody hell…" Wolf gasped weakly.

Erin stared at Alex with wide eyes, she'd never looked so vulnerable in her life, but it didn't make Alex happy. He felt scared too, and sorry for her.

"A-ask him, a-about my Father!" She whispered, staring uneasily at Wolf's hand.

Alex nodded and leaned closer to peer through the branches' leaves.

"Wolf? Do you know if Yassen is alright?" He asked, trying to keep calm.

Wolf didn't reply, and Alex was ready to assume the worst when another voice answered him.

"I think my hand's broken, but otherwise I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Erin suddenly gave relieved smile, Yassen was fine. Alex smiled too himself before speaking again.

"What makes you think it's broken? And is Wolf fine?"

Yassen took a second to think before answering.

"Judging by the way I can't move it without enormous pain, I'd consider my hand well and truly broken. As for Wolf or whoever, he's alive." The Russian remarked, sounding very impatient. "Now, do you intend to stay here, or are we going to leave?"

Alex opened his mouth give an equally hostile answer, but he never got the chance. A huge helicopter suddenly swooped out of the sky in front of them. Its rotors clattered deafeningly, the trees swaying madly in its downdraft. It hung suspended in the air, low enough for Alex and Erin to see the pilot. And more importantly, the masked man setting up the 50 cal. No prizes for guessing what the gun was aimed at.

"Ah, that may be a slight problem." Yassen remarked, breaking into the silence.

Alex immediately went into overdrive; he and Erin needed to get everyone out of the car, and fast.

"Yassen, can you get out of your seat?" He asked tersely. Erin was already working on getting the unconscious SAS men into the cargo area.

Yassen answered quickly, "Yes, but Wolf is pinned down, we may have to leave him."

"The hell you will!" Wolf yelped, sounding much stronger then before.

Alex rolled his eyes impatiently.

"No! No one is getting left behind; we don't have long, so let's get moving!" He snapped, "Erin and I will get the rest of Wolf's team out, but we'll need help with the man in the passenger seat."

Yassen spoke up then,

"There's no need, he's dead; I killed him." The Russian said voice eerily calm and nonchalant.

Alex swallowed, but did his best to stay on task.

"Okay, Help Wolf out then!" He yelled, before turning back to help Erin. She'd managed to get three of the soldiers into the cargo area, surprisingly; one had regained consciousness and was helping her out. He nodded briefly at Alex before pulling his last team-mate to relative safety. Alex climbed awkwardly over the divider and into the cargo area. The boot door was too buckled to open itself, so he kicked at the glass as hard as he could. A tiny crack spider webbed across the glass, but otherwise, the window remained intact. Momentarily stymied, Alex took a breath in. Erin and the other SAS man began to imitate him, kicking out the glass, bit by bit. Wolf yelled out from the front suddenly,

"They're still setting up, but they're unloading people as well, I think they don't know who we are!"

Alex grimaced at the news, but kept beating at the glass. Eventually, the rest of it shattered and there was a small opening to escape through. Not bothering about the broken glass or being gentle, Erin, Alex and the SAS man (Alex wondered what his name was) shoved all the unconscious soldiers through the small opening roughly before following quickly. Alex fell out onto snow, quickly getting up to help drag Wolf's unconscious team-mates a safe distance away from the car before turning back to see how Yassen and Wolf were doing. To his shock, Yassen was awkwardly emerging from the wrecked car, having smashed the windscreen. However, Wolf was nowhere to be seen. Yassen quickly ran to where Alex stood watching.

"We should get out of here, and quickly!" The Russian had to shout to be heard over the helicopter.

Alex glared furiously, and began to yell.

"Where's Wolf? You didn't even _try_ to help, did you? You lousy piece of shi-"

Just then, there was an explosion, and both Yassen and Alex hit the snow, sheltering their heads as best they could. Looking up again, Alex was amazed to see the Liberty helicopter plummet to the ground, blazing and out of control. Then, a Black Hawk suddenly appeared, dominating the sky. Alex saw the insignia of a British Flag on the body of the aircraft. Then, Erin grabbed him by the arm and began to run. Alex followed, knowing that once the Black Hawk's crew had stabilised Wolf and his team, they would come after him, Erin and Yassen. So, Alex sprinted painfully after the other two, breath coming out in painful spurts. To his surprise, and dismay, the Black Hawk didn't bother landing, it immediately followed them, keeping low. Alex doubled his efforts, pulling Erin who was more badly injured then him along. Approximately 15 metres ahead, the trees thinned out into what looked like a large, circular clearing. He wasn't sure, but Alex felt that if they could make it across the clearing, he, Yassen and Erin would be safe.

It was no use though; the Black Hawk was far too fast to even hope to escape on foot. There was a rattling noise, and the snow just in front of them suddenly jumped up in a row of miniature craters as the helicopters machine gun gave a warning shot. Alex skidded to a stop, forgetting to let go of Erin. She crashed into him, and the pair fell flat onto their faces. Dazed, Alex looked up to see that Yassen had made it to the other side of the clearing. The Russian had stopped, and half hidden in the trees, stood staring at the other two. Alex shouted out as loud as he could,

"Lend a hand here, Erin needs help!"

Yassen didn't move from where he was, and Alex gave a groan. Suddenly, he knew that Yassen wasn't going to help them. The Russian would place his own safety above anyone else's as per usual, leaving his daughter and Alex to be captured and possibly killed.

'_I can't believe I had actually started to trust him…Traitor…'_

Giving up, Alex slumped back against the snow, waiting for the sound of the SAS soldiers aboard the Black Hawk sliding down ropes. Sure enough, there was a sound of crunching snow as someone sprinted towards him and Erin. Then, something strange happened. Someone pulled Alex to his feet. Blinking snow out of his eyes, Alex got a shock as he saw Yassen helping Erin to her feet as well.

"I thought you were going to leave us-"

Yassen held up a hand abruptly,

"Not now!" He snapped, "We need to go now!"

There was no chance of flight though, by coming back to help Alex and Erin, Yassen had effectively given up on escaping. Ten SAS men came running into the clearing, all shouting at the top of their lungs. Alex, Yassen and Erin stood frozen in the centre of the clearing, staring at their captors.

"Well this sucks." Erin muttered, leaning heavily on Alex.

Just then, one of the soldiers came forward. The man removed his mask, and Alex wasn't all together surprised to see his old Drill Sergeant from the SAS camp standing in front of him.

"Cub, are you and everyone else alright?" The man asked, eyes flicking over Yassen and Erin unafraid.

Alex sighed deeply, and nodded.

"Yes…we're all fine. I didn't know you did field operations?" He remarked, rubbing his cut cheek gingerly.

The man shrugged and waved for his men to back off.

"I didn't know you were MI6." He countered steadily, motioning for the Alex, Yassen and Erin to follow. After exchanging a cautious glance, all three did so. Alex jogged to catch up to his Drill Sergeant.

"I'm not." Alex muttered, looking down for a moment.

The Sergeant gave a half nod.

"Okay, so you're not _anymore_," The man agreed, glancing over his shoulder at Yassen who stared back levelly, "But you were, and you never felt the need to tell me that, so I never felt the need to mention I worked in field ops."

Alex gave a grunt.

"All right, I suppose that makes sense." He said slowly. Then, he looked up to meet the Sergeant's eye.

"So, what's going on here? Why do Yassen, Erin and I need to be transported back to HQ?" Alex asked, half dreading the answer.

His old Sergeant paused and a confused frown crossed his face.

"Wolf never explained?" The man asked, obviously perplexed.

Alex scowled in response.

"To be honest, there wasn't a whole lot of talking exchanged between us," He said sarcastically, "It was more being dragged along, being pistol whipped or being thrown into a car. So no, Wolf didn't tell me what the hell is going on!"

The Sergeant continued walking again, looking very angry.

"That wasn't supposed to happen!" he retorted, sounding more angry at Wolf then Alex, "You were supposed to be brought in quietly, and have everything explained to you!"

Yassen caught that last sentence and smirked.

"I doubt it would have made a difference, attempting to capture me is never something that ends well." The Russian half laughed.

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Why did Wolf go against orders then?" He asked curiously.

Yassen answered before the Sergeant had an opportunity to.

"He doesn't like me very much," Yassen declared, "And I can't say I blame him."

Alex must have looked puzzled, because his old Sergeant spoke up.

"Yassen was responsible for the deaths of three of his men in a previous mission." The man explained, glaring at Yassen. The Russian met the SAS man's glare, clear blue eyes neither concerned nor regretful. Alex couldn't help but give a slight shudder, it was too easy to forget sometimes that Yassen was a ruthless killer, responsible for many deaths and no one besides the man himself knew if any of those deaths had been justified.

'_Most probably not…'_ Alex thought, a little bitterly. The Russian was too much like Scorpia for his comfort, it didn't matter how horrible a task was, so long as you received the payment.

'_Hell, he was and maybe still is Scorpia, that's where it all started for him…'_

Alex shook himself as his old sergeant suddenly stopped. The Black Hawk had landed in the clearing and the SAS men were awaiting orders. His old Sergeant grimaced and turned around.

"I'm sorry about the whole thing with Wolf, but the fact remains that all three of you have to come back to MI6."

Yassen's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms angrily (taking care not to hit his broken hand).

"Have to?" He questioned, the vicious glint that worried Alex returning to his eyes.

The SAS sergeant nodded steadily.

"Yes, I'm afraid it's a non-negotiable matter."

Yassen must have looked unconvinced, because the SAS soldiers shifted uneasily. A couple instinctively released the safety catch on their weapons, clicks echoed through the clearing. Erin stared at them, eyes wide.

"And what happens if I decide to argue that?" Yassen asked, a note of menace creeping into his voice.

The SAS sergeant didn't flinch or frown; he merely raised a brow before answering.

"Well, I'd have no choice but to authorize my men to forcibly load you on to the chopper then." He replied, voice reasonable.

Yassen looked like he was about to test that statement when Erin suddenly passed out. Alex managed to catch her before she hit the ground, he was surprised by how little she weighed.

Startled, the SAS sergeant looked at Yassen quickly, it was obvious he knew that the Russian was Erin's Father. Yassen didn't move, but he pressed his lips together worriedly and shook his head in defeat.

"Very well, I suppose I don't have much choice." The Russian muttered, clearly not happy about what was happening. The SAS sergeant looked worried, but he nodded pleased anyway. He motioned for a couple of men to get on the helicopter before turning back to Alex and Yassen. A couple of seconds later, there was a high pitched whine and the rotors of the Black Hawk began to spin.

"You'll all be able to get medical attention once we're back in London!" The sergeant yelled over the helicopters noise, "We'll help her on!" He added, nodding to Erin's unconscious form.

Yassen made a face briefly, Alex couldn't tell whether it was worry for his daughter, anger at his situation or dislike for the fact that he also required 'medical attention'. Maybe it was all three, Alex really had no idea and quite frankly, he didn't care. Something bothered him though, so as soon as two SAS soldiers carefully took Erin away, he asked a question.

"Why would we get medical attention?" Alex asked suspiciously, subconsciously putting his hand up to his scratched and dirty face. His old sergeant frowned at him.

"Why wouldn't we?" He asked curiously, feeling like he was missing something here.

Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"People generally don't give medical attention to prisoners awaiting execution…unless the medical attention is actually a lethal injection?" He asked, eyes widening as that possibility hit him.

The SAS man looked horrified,

"No!" He exclaimed, "Why would we kill you?! Where did you get that idea?!"

Yassen raised a brow and did his best not to look like he wanted to kill someone.

"I am regarded as a priority 1 enemy by MI6, which means interrogation followed by either an immediate execution, or a life sentence in a military prison. With my case, I'm inclined to think that 'immediate execution' would be more likely."

The SAS man stared for a minute, before giving a short laugh and shaking his head.

"And that doesn't worry you?" He asked, "Because if it dos, you're disguising it very well."

Alex scowled at this, he knew what it was like to have hide emotions and felt oddly sympathetic for Yassen.

"So, are we all going to be killed, or just him?" He demanded, voice raised and eyes hard. His old sergeant gave him an odd look before answering.

"Neither, all of you are wanted alive and uninjured by MI6 ASAP. Alive, Alex, so ask your Russian friend to stop analysing my men's weaknesses please!"

Alex jumped and turned to face Yassen who was subtly watching the SAS soldiers' movements around the clearing. The Russian turned slowly to face the SAS sergeant again, and for once there was no disguise of indifference masking the assassin's emotions. There was no missing the relief on Yassen's face. Alex realized then what even Erin hadn't, the Russian was stronger, faster and much more ruthless then anyone else he knew, but the man was still human, and therefore, death was a genuine fear. Yassen just did a much better job of disguising that fear then almost everyone.

"Finished considering fighting your way out of here, and killing my men in the process?" The SAS sergeant asked waspishly. Yassen smiled with genuine happiness and half shrugged.

"For now." The Russian agreed.

Alex winced; his broken rib suddenly gave a painful throb. Yassen glanced over, almost smirked.

"So, why exactly why does MI6 want me alive?" The Russian asked nonchalantly, waving over the SAS team's medic. The man approached slowly, Alex almost laughed at the way the medic's eyes widened when he realized just who Yassen was. Apparently the Russian had a reputation.

"Y-yes?" The medic stuttered, staying a good distance away from both Yassen and Alex. Alex's old sergeant snorted at the amused smirk on Yassen's face and took over.

"Alex here is injured, do what you can to help him with the pain!" The SAS man ordered. The medic gave a nod, obviously eager to be away from Yassen. Alex barely had time to glare at the Russian before he was all but dragged away onto the Black Hawk. Once he was gone, Yassen turned back to the SAS sergeant sharply.

"Why does MI6 want me alive?" He repeated, dropping any pretence of a nonchalant demeanour. The Russian's eyes blazed with a blue fire, and the sergeant took an involuntary step backwards.

"That is classified information…" The SAS man trailed off, avoiding meeting Yassen's eye. The Russian smiled in a sadistic sort of way.

"Everyone breaks at some point." Yassen threatened, "No matter how 'classified' the information is."

The SAS sergeant glared back at him.

"Even you Gregorovich. I didn't say in front of Alex, but although you're wanted alive by MI6, the interrogation part of being priority 1 still stands. You may be the best at your job, but you're still human. You'll still break." The SAS man shook his head slowly, "Everyone does, anyone human does. You'll break, and I hope for your sake it doesn't take long."

Yassen didn't react to this; he merely clenched his uninjured hand and said,

"We'll see."

Then, the Russian turned sharply and stalked up the loading ramp onto the helicopter after Alex and Erin.

Standing by himself in the swirling wind, the SAS sergeant released a shaky breath and took a moment. Then, he looked up and followed the Russian aboard the Black Hawk. Seconds later, it lifted from the ground.


	28. Flight

**Chapter 28, Flight**

**A/N Okay, for a change of pacing, I'm going to do the first part of this chappie in the character's POV's…I don't know how this will turn out, so reviews are highly encouraged (so long as you are polite of course)! Also, I had to do a lot of research on the geography and such of Poland for this chapter to be accurate, so I really hope you guys appreciate my trouble! Oh, and sorry about this chappie's lack of action, it's really just meant to act as a filler whilst i work on the next chappie which is MUCH more interesting and entertaining. So, again, sorry and Enjoy!**

**Erin's POV**

I was happily drifting along in a warm, dark daze when something sharp pricked me. I winced, but kept on drifting along - it was too relaxing to give up because of a little pain. But then, it started to get lighter and colder. I frowned, and tried mumbling for it to stop, but my mouth wasn't working very well. Wow, that was a first for me. Suddenly, all the black fog lifted and I was left lying on my back staring up confusedly at one of the SAS men. I guessed he was a medic, something about the needle and IV pack gave it away. I flinched; I hadn't had too much luck with needles lately.

Speaking of syringes…I sat bolt upright, startling the medic. Whatever, just because the guy had woken me up didn't mean I liked him. I looked around, searching for my Father. Hell knows why, the guy was an asshole most of the time and was certainly failing with the whole 'parenting' thing. He owed me 15 years worth of birthday and Christmas presents for God's sake. After a couple of minutes of searching, I realized the man was nowhere to be seen. I frowned and asked the SAS medic,

"Where's my Father?"

The man hastily packed away his gear, obviously deciding not to waste anymore medical expertise on me.

"I think he's talking to the sergeant," he muttered, moving away quickly.

"Oh," I answered.

That couldn't be good. I began to stand up, but the annoying medic was back immediately.

"You've undergone severe head trauma!" he reprimanded, as if I cared what he was saying, "Not to mention you have several gashes that will need attending to and most probably stitching. I am ordering you to rest; otherwise I will be forced to sedate you!"

I narrowed my eyes at the stupid man and did my best cat impression by hissing viciously, "If you come anywhere near me in anything less then life-threatening circumstances, I will break your neck and then shoot you in the head for good measure!"

I guess I wasn't as scary as I thought, because the man just snorted and moved away again. Sighing, I eased myself up into a sitting position. From where I was, I could just see past the loading ramp and into the clearing. Well, a tiny piece of the clearing anyway. As the SAS medic said, my Father was standing by the loading ramp talking to the 'sergeant'. I snorted, talking wasn't very accurate. Arguing more like it, I couldn't hear what they were saying because of the sound of the helicopters rotors, but I could tell from the way the SAS sergeant backed away that my Father was pissed about something. Hmm, no surprises there.

Then I saw something interesting. The sergeant said something that obviously hit a nerve point, because next think I know, my Father was storming up the ramp. He paused when he saw me. I felt fear flood me when I saw the look on his face, it was cold and brutal, and I shrank back instinctively. Then something truly odd happened, his expression softened when he saw my fear. He moved closer and sat cross legged a short distance away. I guess either I smelt bad or the man was having his usual problems with dealing with other people. I looked away, not sure whether or not he was over his temper. He grimaced for a second.

"Sorry," he muttered, grimacing and putting a hand up to his face.

I noticed he still wasn't using his other hand. "You should get that looked at, you said it's probably broken," I suggested cautiously, pointing at his left hand. He looked puzzled, so I raised a brow.

"Your hand?" I reminded him, "Don't tell me it's not painful…"

My Father laughed shortly. "No, I won't lie. It's extremely painful, and I'd quite literally kill someone for a shot of morphine," he said, lifting his hand tentatively to look at it.

Apart from the bad bruising and a little swelling, it didn't look too bad. I still squirmed in sympathy though. I was good at dealing with pain, but I feared it much more then most people. Maybe because I'd been exposed to so much of it.

"You're left handed, how are you going to shoot?" I asked curiously, subconsciously clenching and unclenching my left hand.

He smirked at me, which was an expression I'd never gotten quite used to seeing on his face. My Father smiled, laughed, frowned just like other people, but far less often and usually it didn't mean anything good. Smirking, however, was something I'd expect from someone unless…I shook my head; I wasn't sure how I had intended to finish that thought.

"Being ambidextrous is a rather useful talent," he answered me, waving the fingers on his right hand.

"Um, okay," I said, distracted.

The SAS sergeant had come onto the helicopter and he looked angry. The glare he shot in my Father's direction was especially irate. It was nowhere near as terrifying at the expression that I'd seen moments before on my Father's face though. Curious, I looked over at my Father.

He was pretending he hadn't seen the sergeant, but there was a sudden tension in the way he fidgeted with a bolt in the floor of the helicopter. To my shock and confusion, his knuckles were white; he was gripping the metal bolt that hard. Then, the sergeant walked further on to where Alex was being forcibly patched up by the medic.

Narrowing my eyes, I turned to face my Father. He looked decidedly stormy, lips pressed together hard. "What was that about?" I asked, trying to sound conversational.

He looked up sharply, eyes cold. "I don't know what you are talking about!" he snapped, every muscle in his neck tense.

I snorted and crossed my arms across my chest. Some people got mopey when they had a problem with someone, my Father got aggressive. "You know what I'm talking about!" I hissed, "The whole thing with you and the SAS guy looking at each other like you'd be more then happy to tear each other's eyes out using your fingers."

He made a face as I said that. "That's disgusting," he muttered, by way of answer.

I frowned at him short temperedly. Why didn't anyone just give me a straight answer these days? Beating around the bush only put me in a homicidal mood. Literally.

"You're one to talk, what about the job you did with the Spanish guy, Arodrez?"

He looked mildly surprised at that. "You heard about that?" he asked.

I nodded and sneered. "Yes I did, that was gross…I saw the job description and I didn't think bringing the employer back his target's head was a literal thing!"

My Father shrugged and said, "At 100 thousand dollars, there's not a lot I _wouldn't_ do."

I stared for a second before shaking myself. "Err, right whatever…anyway, you never answered my question. What happened with you and the SAS guy?!" I asked, half shouting.

The nearest SAS soldier's looked up grumpily at that, it was obvious we were about as welcome as rot with them. Alex looked up from where the medic was doing something doctor-like with his arm.

"I was wondering that myself!" he declared cheerfully.

I flinched; my Father hated it when people were obnoxiously happy. Like service people. He was notorious for having precious little patience when dealing with phone operators, shop assistants (not that he was ever out shopping much, my Father wasn't much of a social person like that) and other service personnel. So, I was ready for a sarcastic answer when Alex chirped away in his 'look at me, I've just had my happy pills' voice. I wasn't disappointed.

"None of your business you nosy little brat."

I raised a brow; the man must _really_ be upset to lower himself to language like that. In English anyway. In Russian, a whole lot of colourful vocabulary was available. But in English, he usually refrained from becoming particularly linguistically vulgar. There was a pause where Alex and half the SAS guards stared. Then, the corners of his mouth twitched and he said,

"You too Alex!"

I struggled not to laugh. I resented being made the target of a joke, but it was funny. At the same time though, I was disappointed, I wasn't going to get an answer to my question.

I yawned, my body was crying for rest, but the ever present fear that prevented me from sleeping more then a couple of hours at a time suddenly loomed. Neither Alex nor my Father knew about that, it was a secret I kept deeply buried. I'd done research; trying to figure out what is was that stopped me from sleeping properly and never once had I encountered a similar case to mine. So, my problem was stay mine, no one needed to know.

No one.

**Yassen's POV**

I could tell that Erin wasn't happy about my evading her question, but that was too bad for her. It was none of her or Alex's business what had happened between me and the sergeant, and even if it was, I didn't feel right worrying them like that.

Then, I snorted and corrected myself. I wouldn't feel right worrying _Erin_ like that. Alex wouldn't care; he still doesn't trust me, the foolish boy. You could see the edgy way he never took his eye off of me for more then half a minute at a time. Not that watching me would do any good - if I wanted to cause him or anyone else harm, I would, regardless of whether or not he kept his eyes on me. It was just as well I wasn't up to harming anyone then.

I gave a sigh, I'd done a good job of disguising it so far, but my hand was agonising. I had a fairly detailed knowledge of first aid, so I was able to tell that my hand was fractured it two places. Also, I knew that I was battered black and blue and I suspected severe bruising around my ribs where that idiot Wolf had managed to kick me. Looking over at Erin, I was able to assess her injuries for the first time. I was a little shocked by her condition: there was a large gash on her neck and from the patches of blood dried to her clothing; I knew she had been cut open by the shattered glass back in the car. The head injury was what worried me though. There was a deep cut, starting in her hairline over her left eye that was about 8 centimetres long. It was still bleeding, and there was enough bruising around the wound for me to be surprised she wasn't comatose right now.

Erin was of the theory that I was completely indifferent when it came to her, but little did she know that I was as close to loving her as possible or safe for me. I hated having responsibility for her or anyone else, but I supposed that as far as daughters went, Erin was bearable.

It was odd being concerned being for anyone other then me (especially given my circumstances). I simply wasn't used to it, and for good reason; assassins didn't have the luxury of forming attachments. Then, I realized with a start, that wasn't 100 true.

I glanced over at Alex who was quite calmly staring at me like I was some sort of television screen. I scowled slightly, I might care about making sure John Rider's son didn't get injured if I could prevent it, but that didn't mean he had licence to gawk at me.

I raised a brow and shot an annoyed glance in his direction. Alex smirked, confirming my suspicions he was deliberately trying to irritate me. Annoying child. At the same time, I couldn't help my mixed feelings when it came to Alex. I couldn't deny that I truly did despise him at times; he was the living reminder of the man who I'd respected so much, the same man who had been a traitor to me and everyone else around him. Also, Alex was irritating with his complete and utter inability too see when someone really was trying to help , but I suspected that that was a result of what had happened to the boy; rather then any personality flaw.

All the same though, Alex had proven himself to be strong, physically and mentally (although, if I watched closely enough for any length of time, little cracks seemed to be appearing. I wondered if that was my fault). He was determined, smart and quick witted. It was a pity MI6 had gotten to him first, and not Scorpia. Preferably not Rothman though. I scowled, I'd never liked the woman; she was unpleasant at the best of times and down right savage at the worst. Whilst I didn't have many morals, there were a few rules I lived by, and the woman broke them all. Until she got crushed by a falling sheet of metal anyway.

My thoughts were disrupted as one of the SAS men coughed suddenly. It was the sergeant who Alex seemed to know. Glancing over at him brought all my worries back to mind abruptly. Closing my eyes, I sighed and began brooding on what was to come.

Nothing good.

**Alex's POV**

The SAS medic was taking too long to attend to me. It wasn't his fault really, there was just too much to be done for me. So far, I'd counted twelve substantial cuts, three of which would require stitches (including the one the SAS soldier had managed to knife onto on my arm, the jerk.), two broken bones (rib and right ankle, thanks _so_ much Yassen), five puncture wounds (broken glass is such a wonderful thing…not!) and countless bruises and grazes.

So, I waved the man away impatiently.

"No more, I'll get it looked at later." I snapped, glaring at the medic. The man backed away grumpily, muttering under his breath.

"Why is it no one will let me do my job today?" I heard him growl.

I didn't react; I was too busy staring at Erin. The blonde girl looked exhausted, and I didn't blame her. We'd all been given a shot of morphine once we were settled (well, all except for Yassen. The medic wasn't brave or stupid enough to attempt approaching the man with any sort of sharp implement in hand) and it was doubtlessly administering the same drowsy effect it was on me.

I stood shakily, trying to compensate for the motion of the Black Hawk and hobbled over to her. At first I thought Erin was asleep, her eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly and deeply. So, I took a minute to sit quietly and watch her silently. Like me, her face and short hair was coated with dried blood, grime and mud, but she still managed to look pretty. Her long lashes and big lips gave her elfish features and I sniggered out loud at the thought of her reaction to me calling her a 'cute little elf'.

I guess my laughter disturbed her, because she opened her eyes and asked,

"What do you want Rider?" I guess Erin was trying for the tough thing, but she sounded tired and sore. I made a sympathetic face and shrugged.

"I'm just checking on you." I said, keeping my voice low. Luckily, I didn't have to be worried about being overheard, the helicopter made enough noise to prevent that. Erin blinked sleepily and gingerly poked at the cut on her head.

"And how do I look?" she asked, yawning widely.

I shrugged and flicked at a thick strand of her hair, the blonde only just visible through the mud and blood.

"Nice if you're into the 'natural look'," I teased, miming posing like a model. Erin snorted and rubbed her eyes wearily.

"Actually, I prefer the 'assassin' look myself," she answered sarcastically. I dropped the piece of hair I'd been teasing her with and let my hand fall back into my lap, trying to appear like I wasn't offended by her apparent indifference towards me. Erin seemed to notice my reaction because she suddenly gave an awkward smile. She looked startled by it.

"I haven't done that in awhile." She noted, sounding vaguely surprised. "Smile I mean."

I laughed, I knew what she meant.

"What, did you think you'd forgotten how?" I teased, making a face at her. Erin grinned crookedly, but it was enough to cheer me up a little. At least, until I looked over at Yassen who seemed to either be asleep or passed out. Erin followed my gaze and suddenly looked a lot less happy.

"I wish I knew what upset him before." She said sadly, "I actually do care about my Father."

I didn't reply; I didn't trust myself too.

Yassen Gregorovich was a subject I wasn't comfortable with. The man couldn't be trusted, I was sure of that. Yet, everything the Russian had done so far had been in Erin and me's best interest. I wasn't sure exactly why I'd rejected my loyalty to MI6 in order to protect him, but I still felt that it was the right thing to do.

Maybe only once he'd 'died' had I really realized how much I needed him in a way. The man was the only connection to my Father, a man long dead. I didn't trust MI6 enough to ask about him, and they got involved enough in my life anyway, I didn't need them analysing my emotions too. Deep down, I suspected that Yassen was the only person I'd ever be able to ask about my Father. Thinking about all of this was putting me in a bad mood, so I turned to face Erin.

"Um, okay." I knew that it barely counted as a reply, but that was all I could say without revealing my true feelings.

Erin raised a brow at me.

"You really don't like him do you?" she asked, genuinely curious.

I stared at her in disbelief.

"How can I?" I asked incredulously, "It's because of Yassen I've had to be MI6's slave and see and experience more then I would ever want to! Thanks to him, my life has close to hell for the last year!"

Erin stared back, looking very perplexed.

"How do you figure that?" she asked, glancing over at the Russian.

I made a face and just shook my head. Erin scowled at me and clenched her fists.

"Don't just ignore me and hope everything will go away!" She snapped, sounding hurt.

I whipped around to face her again and began shouting. Unfortunately, the sound of the helicopter pretty much drowned out my words, only Erin could hear me.

"HE KILLED MY UNCLE ERIN!" I yelled, feeling all the deeply buried sadness rise, "IAN WAS THE ONLY FAMILY I HAD AND HE KILLED HIM!!"

Erin stared at me in shock, I suddenly wondered if it was right of me to tell her this.

"I didn't know that." She whispered, turning to stare wide-eyed at Yassen. I snorted and folded my arms.

"Yeah well, you do now. When Ian was killed, MI6 forced me into finishing his mission. I guess I did it a little too well, because they decided that they weren't going to let me go after that." I said, a little surprised by how bitter I sounded.

Erin looked a little upset, but mostly thoughtful. "There's something I don't get." She said curiously, "You seemed shocked to see my Father, why is that?"

I gaped at her, Erin didn't know!

"No offence, but your Father isn't even meant to be alive! He was shot on Air Force One, he should have died there and then, so it's no wonder I was bloody surprised!" I exclaimed, "Surely you knew that!"

Erin shook her head slowly, blue eyes still big and confused. "No, I haven't seen or spoken to my Father in almost two years, give or take." She said. I looked at her, puzzled.

"So, you've been on your own for all that time?" I asked, frowning at the idea. Erin laughed humourlessly,

"No, I've had plenty of people around. I don't see him much anyway."

I shrugged, this was turning out to be a much more personal conversation then I was comfortable with.

"Okay, I guess it's your business." I muttered, standing up slowly.

Erin looked at me, expression decipherable. Erin may have only been my age, and a fairly normal girl given the circumstances, but there were moments where she was too much like Yassen. It was disturbing, no one's eyes should be that empty and cold - no matter who they were.

Smiling awkwardly, I hobbled a short distance away and sat down again. The Black Hawk wouldn't be able to fly all the way to London, so I presumed we were stopping at an airport to change our method of transport. It could still take some time to get there though, and I intended to use that time recuperating. After all, what else could I do?

Not a lot.

**Third Person POV**

**(2 ½ hours later)**

Alex awoke suddenly, shaking slightly. He jumped up (or rather, attempted to, having a broken rib quickly stopped him from doing that) startled, immediately reaching for a non-existent gun. Yassen looked up at him from where he was sitting in the exact same position as 2 hours ago.

"Do you usually do that?" The Russian asked, sounding a lot less friendly then what Alex had expected. The man hadn't been particularly friendly to begin with, but even this was nastier.

Alex didn't bother answering; he just shook his head angrily and looked away. Truth be told, he'd been waking like that ever since Scorpia. Jack didn't know it, but Alex was having nightmares; every night he saw himself trapped with all the faces of people who tired to kill him, people who he'd seen killed, even people he'd caused the death of. No matter what, the nightmares were there, waiting as soon as he was asleep. As a result, Alex always awoke with his heart racing, palms sweaty and automatically looking for some way to defend himself.

Yassen apparently didn't want an answer either; the Russian had already turned away and gone back to staring at the opposite wall.

Erin stirred from where she'd been slumped against the wall. It took her awhile to rouse herself completely, but once she did, the blonde girl looked alert.

"You alright?" She asked fuzzily, nodding at Alex.

Alex started; he hadn't realized it was that obvious that something was wrong.

"Fine," he muttered, blushing in embarrassment, "Just some bad dreams."

If he'd hoped that a muttered explanation would cut it, Alex was sadly mistaken. Erin sat up quickly and narrowed her eyes at him.

"How often do these dreams happen?" She asked sharply, an expression of concern and something else shadowing her face.

Alex shook his head dismissively and avoided her eye.

"Not that much, they're not that bad."

Yassen smirked and spoke, not diverting his gaze from the wall.

"You had bad dreams constantly when you were out cold in Poland. I had to give you a sedative because you wouldn't stop talking and thrashing around in your sleep." The Russian said, voice cold and matter of fact.

Alex glared at Yassen, trying to ignore the way Erin looked at him in horror.

"Thanks a whole lot for that." Alex snarled at Yassen. The Russian just shrugged and fell silent again. Erin shuffled over to Alex and shook him by the shoulder.

"Alex?" she murmured, sounding upset, "Are you sure you're okay, you're really pale and you're shaking."

Alex didn't mean to lash out at Erin, but he was still upset and freaked out by the nightmare. His body reacted to everything and anything; his responses were completely out of proportion.

"Just drop it!" He yelled, "I'm fine and it's nothing. Leave me alone for God's sake! Why don't you sort your own damn problems out before coming and getting involved where you're not wanted?!"

Erin's mouth dropped open at Alex's outburst, but she didn't respond other then taking her hand away and pointedly standing up and walking away from him, eyes and mouth hard. As soon as he'd said it, Alex wished he could take his words back. They'd been spiteful, but the grain of truth in them had probably hurt the most. He swallowed awkwardly, his throat felt dry and he managed to gather up the courage to speak.

"E-Erin? I'm really sorry, I didn't mean-"

"You did Alex, so don't bother." Yassen interrupted suddenly, glancing at Erin with an unusual amount of concern in his eyes. Alex flinched, he hadn't meant to say what he had, but he knew there was no point in trying to take back what he'd said. Still, he felt angry that Yassen felt the need to intervene.

"I don't recall asking your opinion, so kindly sod off." Alex snarled, standing suddenly.

Yassen stood as well, causing several of the SAS men to look up alarmed from their various tasks. The soldiers all watched the unfolding scene with wide eyes, seemingly unable to get involved.

"My opinion will be given regardless whether or not you want to hear it, especially when you're being a spiteful brat." Yassen snapped.

Alex sneered and threw his hands up.

"Oh right, because that's me down to a T isn't it? I'm the sort of person who just goes and hurts people. Has anyone ever stopped to think just _maybe_ I don't mean it, that just maybe there's a _reason_ for the things I do?!" He half yelled, feeling thoroughly fed up with everything.

Yassen's expression darkened and when the Russian spoke, his voice was low and menacing.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you _mean_ to do something, fact is you've done it and sitting around and _wishing_ you could take it back doesn't help anything."

Alex clenched his fists and took a step forward.

"You just don't get it, do you?!" he shouted, "I wouldn't be this way if it wasn't for _you_! It's _your_ fault that I'm such a 'spiteful brat' as you so eloquently put it!"

Erin suddenly tensed where she was standing neat the door of the Black Hawk.

"Alex, no-" She began, but Yassen cut her off with a savage look.

"It's my fault?" The Russian repeated, eyes narrowed, "I'd like to know the reasoning behind that."

Alex didn't hesitate; he dove right in, ignoring the upset look on Erin's face.

"You're the one who always tried telling me not to get involved with MI6, yet it's because of you they forced me to join in the first place!" He growled, black anger making speech difficult, "If you hadn't killed Ian, I wouldn't have to of gone and finished his mission for him! I would never have gotten roped in if you had just left my Uncle alone!"

Alex had expected an angry retort from Yassen, but the Russian was staring at him, apparently stunned.

"I thought MI6 _asked_ you to work for them." Yassen said slowly, sounding confused.

Alex gave a snort.

"Yeah right, I wish." He muttered. "Instead, they felt the need to blackmail me."

Yassen hesitated, and one of the nearby SAS soldiers took the opportunity to interrupt.

"We'll be landing in twenty minutes," the man said, avoiding everyone's eye, "We're going to be boarding a flight from the airport. It'll take you to London where you'll be given further information."

Alex listened silently, glaring at Yassen the entire time. It was no good though, the anger had trickled out of him and he didn't feel up to an argument anymore. With a sigh, Alex shook his head and back off. The Black Hawk began to descend, and everyone sat down. A taciturn quiet filled the chopper. Erin sat hunched in a corner, something odd in her expression. Alex caught her eye and tried to silently ask what was wrong, but Erin looked away quickly, expression hollow. Yassen ignored them both, he was staring straight ahead again, and for the first time Alex wondered what was going on in the Russian's head. All he knew that there was something wrong here, there seemed to be an ugly mood hovering around, everyone was tense and nervous.

Sighing, Alex looked around him disinterestedly. He noticed that the Black Hawk was descending quickly now, and a city was visible in the distance. Dredging up what little information MI6 had provided him on Poland, Alex remembered that the Liberty camp had been somewhere near the Bialowieza National Park, with Warsaw to the south-east. Warsaw was the capital of Poland, and only about 200 km from the National Park. Alex figured it was Warsaw they were being taken now.

After another couple of minutes, Alex's suspicions were proven correct; they were indeed going to Warsaw. The chopper flew unusually low, and people walking on the streets looked up curiously. Alex wondered if they were low enough for the passer-bys to be able to see everyone on board the chopper, it must be odd to see a fifteen year old boy on a military aircraft. One of the SAS men spoke up, seemingly able to read Alex's mind

"The chopper makes too much noise for anything we say to be heard on the ground, so don't bother calling for help."

Alex shrugged and sat back, he hadn't been seriously considering escape anyway. He knew that after the crash in the car, all the SAS soldiers were on their guard with him, Yassen and Erin. Anyway, Alex was oddly curious to see where all of this was going. Below them, Warsaw flashed by and slowly, the buildings started to thin out. Alex frowned, he'd assumed that they'd be going to Frederic Chopin Airport, it handled the international flights. Yet, the busy airport had already been passed by, they were angling away from the city now.

"We've missed the airport." Alex pointed out bluntly. The SAS man who'd spoken before looked up briefly before answering,

"We're not using the international airport, Liberty has contacts there. We'll be using the old military airfield in Modlin, it's not far away now. In fact, look below you, we are there now."

At the man's words, Alex looked outside. A run down looking airstrip greeted him, snow pushed off the runway. It now formed huge drifts either side of the concrete strip. A chain link fence, topped with barbs surrounded the entire thing. Erin shifted across from Alex and wrinkled her nose; it obviously wasn't to her taste.

"No complimentary peanuts I guess." She muttered, before shutting up again. Alex barely had time to smirk at the girl's comment before the Black Hawk touched down with a thump. Immediately, all the SAS men were up. Alex found himself being hustled off of the aircraft and onto the snowy ground outside. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that Erin and Yassen weren't far behind him.

"Keep it moving!" Alex's guard hissed. Alex felt the man kick at the back of his knees; not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to remind him that the SAS man would drag him if need be. So, with an annoyed grunt, Alex let the man pull him along, trying not to give the soldier another reason to complain.

They came up to the perimeter of the airstrip, the fence blocking their progress. Alex saw a large red notice board stuck on it, but it was written in Polish and Russian, he couldn't read it. Erin however studied it interestedly.

"I didn't know this place was being converted into an airport." She mused out loud. Alex's old drill sergeant walked up suddenly, barely looking at her as he answered,

"It is, it won't be ready for the public before 2008 at the earliest though. The Polish government has given us special permission to use the place for transport; they saw it as part of their duty of being in NATO to assist the British in removing a terrorist threat from their country." The man didn't sound like he really cared; he was too busy checking the watch on his right wrist. He gave a nod, and Alex was shunted forward again, a man in front of him had found a gate in the fence and opened it.

Everyone moved through quickly and silently, although they had permission to be here and both Polish and British forces had put in a lot of effort to ensure the area was secure, it was obvious that no one felt safe here. Alex couldn't say he blamed them; the airstrip was completely exposed, with thick forest surrounding it on two sides. The sun had started to set, the first few stars shone very faintly in the rapidly darkening sky. Still tense, the SAS soldiers moved forward. They were heading for the end of the airstrip, but they had to climb over the steep drifts of snow to get there.

Alex managed to scrabble up and over on his own, but behind him, Erin was having more difficulty. She was exhausted, and her injuries were starting to slow her down. Face tight with pain and weariness, Erin only got half way up before falling and tumbling to the bottom. She slowly started to pick herself up, but not quickly enough for her guard; the man simply grabbed her by the shirt collar and lifted her completely off the ground and dragged her up. The blonde girl didn't resist, ice crystal stuck to her clothing and hair, glittering whenever they caught the light. Finally, when everyone was over the drifts, they made their way to the end of the airstrip. Once they were there, the SAS men simply stopped and stood waiting. Alex wasn't sure what for, the place was abandoned, all the construction workers were gone, either their shifts had finished or it had been arranged for them not to be here. Alex suspected it was the latter.

Standing still, he quickly felt himself begin to grow cold, everyone's breath come out in misty puffs of condensation but no one moved. Alex opened his mouth to ask what they were waiting for, but just then, a low droning sound filled the evening air. Looking up quickly, Alex saw two tiny pinpricks of light in the distance. At the same time, someone switched on the runway lights. Suddenly, Alex was bathed in yellow light and saw that the pinpricks of light and the droning sound was actually a plane, it was on its final approach to Modlin. Everyone stood silently, watching the plane quickly come towards them. Rain began to fall, splashing noisily against the concrete runway and forming huge puddles that slowly melted the snow.

The whole thing had a dreamlike feel to it, Alex thought it looked like a scene from a mafia movie; a whole bunch of dangerous men standing in the pouring rain, waiting for a plane to land in front of them. At the same time, he wondered where he and Erin would fit in to the movie. Blinking in an effort to see through the rain, Alex could barely see as the plane touched down on the runway with a slight squeal of rubber. The machine slowed a little, but still hurtled towards them fast enough to startle Erin, she tensed for a second before relaxing as the plane came to a halt.

The plane was a dull, olive green colour, with no sort of insignia declaring its nationality. It was an unfamiliar model to Alex, small with a tail mounted jet engine. As soon as it had slowed to a halt, the door opened and a small staircase automatically unfolded itself. Two figures emerged, Alex couldn't see much; the rain was falling in thick, windblown curtains now. The figures approached the group, and Alex saw one man and one woman. The man was tall, but heavily muscled, giving him a bear like appearance. The woman was in sharp contrast, petite and delicate looking. The man was wearing a military uniform, a small British flag alerting Alex to his nationality. The woman wore dark jeans, leather boots and a black, button up cotton shirt. She wore little make-up and had jet black hair with grey eyes. Alex wondered why she was there, she wasn't military or intelligence, he could tell just from the way she stood.

"She's a translator."

Alex jumped as Yassen spoke suddenly, the Russian frowning at the small woman. The military man from the plane nodded.

"Yes, she's so we know what you and your daughter are saying at all times. But never mind that, we need to get on the plane now." The man even sounded like a bear, he had a low, husky sort of voice that seemed to growl rather then talk. Alex heard his guard stir behind him, so he moved forward quickly, suddenly not wanting to be dragged up the stairs onto the plane like a sack of vegetables. His guard gave a grunt of annoyance, the man had to jog quickly to catch up, get soaked by a puddle.

Alex ignored his guard's irritation and quickly climbed the stairs into the aircraft. The interior of the plane was dim and rather austere. There were seven seats, but only five of them were proper chairs (the other two were little more then seat sized platforms with seatbelts attached) and Alex thought he had a funny feeling who'd be occupying the seats. Still, he was in no mood to complain, anything was better then being out in the cold and wet. There was a sound of clattering footsteps, and Erin suddenly appeared in the doorway, still being dragged by her guard. She looked up as she was roughly pushed out of the way and managed to pull herself up and stand on her own.

"No complimentary in-flight movie either?" Erin whined, blonde hair plastered to her head by the rain, giving her the appearance of a drowned person. "This airline sucks!"

Alex smiled to himself, the joke wasn't much, but it was enough to boost his spirits. His smile quickly disappeared as the military man and the translator walked up the stairs, followed closely by Yassen and his guard. Two of the SAS men came onboard the plane as well, but it seemed the rest of them (including Alex, Yassen and Erin's guards) were staying behind. The SAS men quickly strapped themselves into their seats and did their best to get comfortable. The translator glanced briefly at the SAS soldiers before walking to the five other seats. Alex noticed Yassen's eyes tracking the woman's progress silently; he could guess the Russian's thoughts easily for once. Yassen wasn't impressed by the translator, the Russian could see she wasn't any sort of threat physically and yet Yassen knew that her presence meant that everything he or Erin said would be for all to hear, in Russian or not. MI6 wasn't taking any chances after they nearly escape from Wolf's team.

Alex jumped as the other stranger; the bear like man spoke suddenly overhead.

"What the hell's going on here?! I was told that we'd be transporting two rogue MI6 agents, not babysitting a couple of kids!"

Alex scowled; once again, he was being underestimated due to his age. The military man obviously found his duty guarding Alex and Erin as an insult to his prowess and was reacting accordingly. Next to him, Erin looked too tired to be offended, she was swaying where she stood and merely grunted by way of response. The translator glanced over at Erin briefly before replying to her colleague.

"I wouldn't be so quick judge, the boy is MI6's most effective agent and the girl is the daughter of Mr. Gregorovich here, you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss _him_ would you?"

Yassen raised a brow at the mention of his name, but didn't react as the military man narrowed his eyes in his direction. The man seemed to be unsatisfied by the translator's explanation, but he didn't argue further, choosing to sit down in a seat instead.

"Fine." Was all he said. The translator smiled briefly before motioning for Alex, Erin and Yassen to sit in one of the five seats. Alex sat quickly, choosing the window seat. Erin sat in the chair next to him, but Yassen remained standing where he was. The translator looked at him, wearing an expression of curiosity.

"I'd prefer to stand" Yassen said, ignoring the hostile glares he was receiving from the SAS men. For a second, the translator merely gazed at the Russian, obviously not sure how to handle being directly disobeyed. Then, she shrugged.

"As you wish, it is mainly your daughter and Alex I need to speak to anyway."

Then, the woman turned away and chose the seat next to the military man's that faced Alex and Erin's. She strapped herself in quickly before looking up speaking. The woman looked both Alex and Erin directly in the eyes when she talked.

"What I am going to say, I will only say once, so please listen closely: Both of you are officially enemies of England, meaning that by law, MI6 would be authorized in placing both of you in a prison somewhere. However, neither Blunt nor Jones has any wish to do so, so long as you cooperate." The translator paused briefly, allowing a moment for Alex and Erin to glance at one another uncertainly.

"And what exactly do you mean by 'cooperate'?" Alex asked cautiously, measuring his words carefully. The translator gave him an appraising look which told him straight away that this was going to be a long and exhausting process.

"I am going to ask some questions as the first part of your interrogation, the second part will be done in London. You will listen carefully to my questions, and answer fully and truthfully." The woman spoke in a brisk, clipped manner with a slight Irish accent.

"And if we don't?" Erin asked suddenly, sounding exhausted but still defiant.

The translator smiled coldly.

"If you prove to be uncooperative, your answers will be removed from you…forcibly…"

Standing to the side, Alex saw Yassen tense suddenly. The military man noticed as well, but didn't say anything. Looking at the bear of a man, Alex swallowed dryly; he suddenly knew why the soldier was here: To forcibly remove answers. Next to Alex, Erin seemed even tireder then before. Glancing at the girl, Alex came to a decision. He straightened and faced the translator.

"We'll cooperate."


	29. Asking the Right Questions

**Chapter 26, Asking the Right Questions**

Alex felt exhausted; he and Erin had been sitting in their seats for an hour now, having questions fired at them left, right and centre. The translator barely gave either of them a chance to answer fully before spitting out another query.

"Alex, tell me again why you didn't contact MI6 for almost the entire mission?" The woman asked, eyes narrowed.

Alex groaned inwardly for a second before replying.

"Because I was…captured…and taken to a house where I had no method of communication." He answered wearily, ignoring the voice recorder the woman was holding. The translator frowned at him.

"Alex, please be more specific for the record's benefit. What do you mean by 'captured' and who were you 'captured' by?"

Alex suddenly decided he was through with the questions, Erin had fallen asleep next to him and he wasn't far from passing out himself.

"I've already told you what happened! You won't get anymore from me tonight!" he snapped, crossing his arms angrily. The translator glared at him and was about to argue, when her military colleague intervened.

"No, he has a point Colleen, enough's enough. He'll be questioned in London anyway." The man murmured, looking over at Erin with a surprising amount of sympathy. The woman, Colleen, didn't answer straight away, glaring at Alex. Then, when she realized Alex wasn't backing down, she pressed her lips together grimly and turned the recorder off sharply.

"Fine, I got all the answers I needed so they can sleep now if they want." She snapped, before packing everything up. "I'm going to speak to the pilot!"

Watching silently as the petite woman stormed down the aisle to the cockpit, Alex felt relief flood through him; he could finally sleep. So, he gratefully let himself drift off peacefully into a comforting darkness.

Alex wasn't sure how long he'd been sleeping, but it only felt like a couple of minutes. For a second, his tired brain couldn't make sense of why and what had woken him. Then, the screaming registered. Gasping, he sat upright quickly, looking around wildly. What he saw shocked him.

* * *

Erin was still asleep in the seat next to him, but she was thrashing around violently and screaming at the top of her lungs. Scared, Alex hastily unbuckled himself, just as the military man came running from further down the plane. 

"What's going on?!" he yelled, trying to make himself heard above Erin's yelling. Alex just shook his head dumbly, trying to undo Erin's seatbelt. He had no idea what was happening to Erin, but even asleep, he could see the terror on her face.

"Help me!" Alex shouted, trying to wake Erin. The military man nodded and quickly moved closer. He undid the Erin's safety harness and helped Alex lift her out of the seat. The girl was still screaming in her sleep and thrashing, but Alex could make out words in her cries.

"Нет! Нет! Пожалуйста нет!" ( No! No! Please no!)

Terrified by Erin's fear, Alex and the military man quickly placed Erin on the floor of the plane. One of the SAS soldiers woke up and cursed when he saw what was happening. The man quickly got out of his seat and hurried over.

"What the hell is going on?!" He yelled, running his hands through his hair worriedly. The military man glanced at Erin before answering.

"We don't know, she started screaming her head off just a minute ago! She's asleep whilst she's doing all this!"

The SAS man looked just as horrified as Alex felt.

"Christ?! Really?!"

Alex nodded, shaking Erin, trying to wake her up.

"Erin!" Alex shouted, "Erin, wake up!!!"

The blonde girl's screams decreased in volume a little, and she stopped thrashing so wildly. Instead, Erin curled up like she was being kicked and Alex was shocked to see tears pouring down her face. She started shaking distraughtly in a manner that Alex found viciously upsetting to watch.

"Никак... пожалуйста не делает... стоп..." (No…Please Don't…Stop)

Only then did Alex realize that Erin was speaking in Russian, he glanced over his shoulder to look for Colleen, but the translator was still in the cockpit of the plane and he doubted she would help anyway in the mood she was in. Suddenly, Erin's screams petered out into low whimpers that made Alex want to comfort her desperately.

"Отец..."

Alex didn't know what Erin was saying, but the way she said it (no, Alex thought, the way she _begged_ it) made him pause and listen.

"Отец! Пожалуйста!!! Папа Отца..."

Alex turned to the SAS man; he seemed to have some sort of idea what Erin was whimpering.

"What's she saying?" he whispered, feeling helpless. The SAS soldier hesitated, chewing his bottom lip.

"What's she saying?!" Alex demanded, glancing at Erin's distraught expression.

The SAS man half shrugged.

"She…She's calling out for someone." He muttered, obviously not answering fully.

Alex glared at the SAS soldier and clenched his fists.

"Who is she calling for?!" he snarled. The SAS man opened his mouth to reply, but someone answered before he could.

"Me, Erin is calling for me."

Alex turned around slowly, to face who was speaking. He started as Yassen stood from where he'd been sitting in the shadows and walked slowly over to where he and the two men were crouched over Erin. Alex felt confusion flood through him, Yassen looked different. There was an expression he'd never have thought possible on the Russian's face, fear. And it was fear for another person: Erin. Shocked, Alex and the two men backed off hastily, watching in disbelief. Yassen quickly went to his daughter, kneeling by her. Erin was still talking in her sleep.

"Отец... Пожалуйста, Папа Отца...?" (Father...Please, Father...Dad?)

Alex watched stunned, as Yassen tentatively reached out and put a hand on his daughter's head. He said something quietly in Russian, too low for Alex to hear. Still utterly in shock, Alex realized that although he didn't know Russian, he knew what Yassen was saying.

"It's alright, I'm here."

Alex realized with a start that Erin had stopped whimpering, she was saying something, but too quietly for anyone but Yassen to hear. Alex suddenly realized that Erin had woken up. He started forward, but Yassen quickly stood and said,

"Erin's fine, she just needs to sleep now."

Alex peered around the Russian to look at Erin. The blonde girl was sitting up, and looked miserable; she was hunched over and was wiping her face dry with her sleeve, looking vaguely humiliated. She glanced up and caught Alex's eye and gave him a mocking sort of smile that made him wince.

"See why I asked about the nightmares?" she asked, voice dead and hollow.

Alex just looked away awkwardly and nodded silently. He felt even worse about yelling at her now that he knew that she'd have been able to understand exactly what he went through. Yassen glanced at Erin for a moment before turning to the SAS soldier who'd come running to help.

"Do you have a med-kit?" The Russian asked, eyes daring the SAS man to say no and hope to survive the rest of the flight. To his credit, the SAS man didn't let the Russian's intimidating glare scare him off; he just nodded distractedly and hurried to where he had been sitting. He returned carrying a large plastic box that was shut with a metal clasp. Yassen snatched the kit off of the soldier and without another word, crouched down and turned back to Erin. The Russian searched through the contents of the box, apparently find what he needed after a minute. Yassen pulled out a foil packet of pills, and turned to Erin.

"These will help you sleep." He said quietly in Russian, holding the tablets up for his daughter to see. Erin's eyes widened and she hastily shuffled back.

"No! I'm not taking them!" she whimpered, looking terrified.

Yassen frowned and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Erin, you're suffering from extreme exhaustion and you need time to recover from your injuries." He explained, patience running out.

Erin just shook her head hard and stared with huge eyes.

"No! The dreams will come back; I'm not going through it again! You don't know what it's like!!!" She cried, looking upset.

Yassen felt what little patience he had dry up.

"You only have yourself to blame!" he snapped, "You chose this life for yourself, even when I told you not to!"

Erin winced, but didn't start crying again. She did something that surprised Yassen; she lifted her chin and managed to look him in the eye evenly. Erin had managed to bring herself under control it seemed.

"Yes I chose this life for myself," She agreed, "And I chose it for a reason, because I'm good at it and it's who I am. I always knew there were going to be repercussions, and I did and still accept that."

Yassen nodded slowly, obviously taking everything his daughter said in.

"Then take the pills." The Russian ordered, eyes calculating and less then warm.

Erin hesitated, looking almost like she was about to protest, then, she silently reached out and snatched two small pills from Yassen. She didn't even stop to look at them; Erin swallowed them in one deft motion, flinching at the taste. Yassen nodded in satisfaction and stood fluidly.

"Good, you'll finally get some sleep this way." The Russian muttered, walking away slowly. Erin gave a sigh and stood as well. Alex stood to the side watching her curiously, he obviously had no idea what had just happened. Shaking her head, Erin just stumbled back to her seat and did up the seatbelt again, falling asleep almost immediately. After staring for a second, Alex did the same. After a few minutes, everything on the plane settled down and silence engulfed the aircraft once more.

* * *

Alex managed to sleep for the rest of the journey without being interrupted again. Even the bad dreams stayed away. A couple hours later, Alex slowly woke up, feeling sticky and unwashed. It wasn't surprising, his shower in Poland seemed a long time ago and it was sunny and got in the plane, everyone looked uncomfortable. Stretching himself, Alex ruefully wished he was on a public flight where there would be an air-conditioning nozzle and free drinks. Instead he was stuck on the cramped, sun flooded military plane. 

Next to him, Erin was still sleeping and Alex guessed correctly that the pills he'd seen Yassen pass her had been sedatives. Alex looked at the blonde girl sympathetically; even asleep she looked tired and washed out. He knew the feeling well, and hoped she'd have the opportunity to recuperate soon.

'Speaking of recuperating…'

Alex gingerly poked at the cut on his arm. It had scabbed over, but it was an ugly wound, long and wide. Then, as if triggered by memory, the pain of all his injuries came flooding back. Alex gave a gasp of pain, only the fact that he'd been experiencing a continuous adrenalin rush since being hurt had kept the pain away. It was like the ancient Vikings legend of the berserker, in a special state; the berserker warrior could go on fighting for hours no matter how bad the injuries it sustained. But now that he was still, Alex could feel the pain of every one of his injuries acutely. The pain was overwhelming, he wanted so badly just to pass out and be done with it, but his body wouldn't let him. Everything was agony, even breathing. Alex tried to call out for help, but that required him to breathe in deeply, and that ignited the searing pain of his broken rib. Alex closed his eyes weakly, head spinning. All the pain seemed at odds with the sunny, bright environment he was in. finally, Alex managed to open his eyes again and decided to try and call for help again.

There was no need though; one of the two SAS men was leaning over him with a look of concern on his face. Alex started in surprise, and tried to ask what was wrong, but the words came out as indecipherable mumbles from his dry, chapped lips. Feeling dispirited, Alex closed his eyes again and decided to try and wait for the pain to get bad enough for him to pass out. The SAS man had other plans though, he felt a finger pull his eyes open and he heard vague, meaningless words overhead.

"…_Pupils are dilated, so are hers…significant lethargy and profuse sweating from both of them…going into shock?" _

Alex felt his breathing come out in rapid, shallow bursts, he began panicking. Even in his weakened state, he knew that he should have let the medic attend to him better and now his injuries were sending him into shock. Alex felt fear overrun his senses, he knew people could die from shock; it didn't seem fair, he'd survived everything so far, and he was going to die like this? Only, the man had said 'both of them', who was the other? Without even looking to the side of him, Alex knew suddenly it was Erin; she was going into shock too. Weary, Alex closed his eyes again. The muttering kept on going somewhere above him.

"_It's not too bad, we'll be landing in London very soon, they can get better help then__...getting them un-strapped and lying down will help…"_

A new voice, cold and emotionless answered the mutters.

"Then do it!"

Even in shock, Alex felt like smirking. No matter how badly he was relying on someone else, Yassen was incapable of losing his arrogant attitude.

His good humor didn't last long, he felt someone fumble with his belt and next thing he knew, someone had grabbed him and pulled him from the chair. Being moved hurt like hell, Alex moaned, hoping that that would be enough to warn the SAS men off. Unfortunately, it seemed either he was wrong, or they didn't care, because he was dragged along the ground until he was lying in the aisle. Next to him, he heard a muttered oath which he presumed came from Erin. Somehow, he managed to get the strength up to talk.

"E-Erin?" He rasped, wincing as his chapped lips cracked.

There was a reply, but it was alarmingly weak.

"Mhm, 'm here." Erin sounded sleepy; the sedatives were still in her system obviously.

Alex smiled to himself, for some odd reason, knowing Erin was okay made things better. Slowly, he passed out, shadows eating away at the edges of his vision. Alex was glad, he couldn't feel the pain if he was unconscious. Then, the slow progress halted as complete darkness hit him like a hammer blow.

'_Finally, took long enough…'_

* * *

"You know, for a little while, we thought you might not wake up at all." 

Alex grimaced, but didn't reply. He just kept poking at the food on his tray with his plastic knife. It was annoying; the plastic implement kept bending whenever he tried to cut anything with it. A normal, metal knife would have been so much easier, but he figured that priority 3 enemies weren't allowed dangerous weapons. Too bad, he thought sullenly, I'd love to be able to kill this woman just to shut her up! Then, Alex sighed. He shouldn't complain, as he'd been told multiple times, MI6 would be fully within legal rights to lock him up and throw away the key. Then burn the key and throw the ashes in a lake.

So, he managed to find a little good humour deep within him and look up and face the woman. She was a doctor, and looked it with her long white coat, clipboard and small, rectangular glasses. The woman was in her early forties, attractive with still brown hair and an even featured face. Too bad she just didn't know when to shut up, the woman had been trying to get Alex to talk for 3 hours now. He sighed again and decided to throw the woman a bone.

"Really?" He asked, commending himself silently for keeping most of his sarcasm out of his voice, "And why's that?"

The woman beamed at him and quickly consulted her clipboard, although Alex had a sneaky suspicion that she knew already and probably had her whole conversation with him planned out.

"Well," She began, taking a breath, "You suffered one fractured rib, a broken ankle, a severe knife wound to the arm, multiple lacerations resulting from glass wounds, a sprained wrist and unbelievable bruising. Not to mention you went into clinical shock and very nearly died from that alone."

The woman trailed off, looking slightly out of breath. Alex watched her with a certain level of amusement, wondering if she expected him to fall down in awe or something similar.

"None of those sound like fatal wounds," He paused for a second, "Except for the shock thing." Alex quickly amended himself, seeing the cheated expression on the doctor's face.

The woman looked vaguely unhappy for a moment, as if she was disappointed Alex hadn't looked as amazed at his own survival at she'd expected. She coughed awkwardly and answered him.

"Well, normally you'd be right." She agreed stiffly, "But that's on their won. All together, these injuries were almost more then your body could handle, and I didn't mention you lost quite a lot of blood due to the… car crash…you were in."

Alex didn't bother commenting on that last remark; he had to agree with the woman. He remembered the way that the inside of the car had seemed like it was bathed in blood after it hit the rock and tree. He knew now that most of it had actually come from him, although Erin had contributed to a certain degree. Certainly, Alex thought, she suffered her fair share of injuries.

Alex made a face at that thought and turned to look to the left, where Erin was laying silently on the bed next to him. They were in a small, privately owned medical facility MI6 used for patients who they didn't want out in public for various reasons. Whilst it was not as luxurious as St. Dominic's, the facility was very well staffed, with several specialists and kept to good standards. So, Erin was being well taken care of, and Alex was glad of it. When they'd landed in London, Alex had recovered to a certain extent where he was aware of his surroundings and able to speak (even if most of it was pitiful whimpering, Alex thought dryly) if not move. Erin however, was a different matter. Even though the sedatives she'd been given had worn off, the girl would not wake, even to smelling salts. The medic who'd greeted them at the airstrip they'd landed at had been worried that her head injury was playing a part in that, and Alex had to admit, it was a legitimate concern. Erin still hadn't woken up, and the doctors were starting to worry she was comatose.

Suddenly, Alex wondered what had happened to Yassen. Presumably the Russian was receiving medical attention as well, but Alex wondered if he knew what was happening with Erin.

'_Probably not, MI6 would love being able to keep that from him.'_

Making a quick decision, Alex turned to face his doctor again.

"You can go now," he said bluntly, done even pretending to be polite, "just send the nurse in with pain meds when it's time."

The doctor sniffed disapprovingly, but did as he said. Alex was stable now and didn't require 24 hour observation. The CCTV camera hiding in the shadows of the top right corner of the room did that for her.

Once he was sure the woman was gone, Alex whipped the blankets off of him and stood up shakily. He'd had the IV and drip removed from him only today, so he was going to enjoy being able to walk again. Alex smiled to himself, feeling foolish at celebrating the simple ability to walk. Then, he limped over to Erin's bed, taking care not to trip.

Up close, Erin looked like a doll or wax figure, pale and unmoving. All her injuries had been cleaned and a fresh bandage was over her head wound, but Alex still thought she looked ill. There were dark shadows under her eyes and the way Erin lay so still made her look fatigued. Sadly, Alex shook his head, this whole thing had been a mess and Erin had come out worst. Feeling oddly protective of the sleeping girl, Alex reached out to push some of Erin's hair out of her face when someone spoke.

"Is she gone?"

Alex jumped and quickly took his hand back, Erin had spoken to him! The blonde girl hadn't opened her eyes, and her voice was weary, but there was no mistaking the fact she was consciously speaking to him.

"E-Erin?" Alex asked disbelievingly. Erin's lips twitched as she fought back a smile briefly.

"Don't sound so surprised Rider. Just answer the question, is she gone?"

Alex frowned, perplexed.

"Who are you talking-?"

Erin scowled, keeping her eyes shut.

"The doctor stupid! Is she gone?" She asked impatiently, voice low and soft.

Confused, Alex nodded.

"Yeah, she's gone."

Then, Erin did something completely unexpected. She opened her eyes quickly, smiled widely and sighed in relief.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, "I thought that woman would never leave!"

Alex stared, utterly lost.

"I don't get it," he said slowly, "I thought you were in a coma or something?"

Erin made a thoughtful face.

"Yeah, I was." She said, nodding. "But I woke up today!" Erin said the last part with a note of childish delight, not bothering to disguise her cheerfulness.

Alex just kept staring at her, still not getting it.

"Then why didn't you say or do anything?" he asked, a little annoyed. Erin smirked, and put her hands behind her head contently.

"That woman was sooo annoying." She drawled, "There was no way in hell I was going to deal with her mere minutes after waking up. I thought I'd let you handle her."

Alex glared, but he couldn't keep in a bad mood for long. It was too good to see Erin awake and well to hold a grudge.

"It's cool you're alright," he smiled, "All the doctors thought you might not wake up."

Erin's smile slipped a little, but she managed to stay positive.

"Well, I did, and that's what counts!" She said happily.

Alex was about to reply, when the door flew open and four people came running into the room. It was Alex's favourite doctor and three other people he didn't know. They immediately went straight over to Erin, obviously stunned to see her awake. Erin barely had time to open her mouth to protest before she was submerged in a barrage of poking, medical procedures and wondering speculation.

"…Just woke up without warning?"

"Pulse is slightly elevated, but normal…"

"…Scans indicate possibility of minor brain damage…"

That last comment seemed to do it for Erin, she quickly sat up and pushed all the hands away and scowled.

"I am NOT brain damaged…Piss off, all of you!" She yelled, looking insulted.

Alex smirked, but quickly hid his smile behind his hand when Erin glared at him. All the doctors quickly began scribbling on their clipboards. One of them stepped forward and Erin eyed him with mild trepidation, obviously unsure of the man.

"Erin?" The man's voice was quiet, and oddly unreal; he sounded like a computer because there was no emotion other then a calm patience in his tone.

Erin nodded suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, what do you want?" she asked warily, subconsciously reaching for a non-existent gun. The man noticed that and smiled blandly. Alex noticed a badge that said 'Dr. Chenfield' on the front of his blue-green shirt.

"Why don't you relax Erin?" He suggested calmly, whilst his colleagues scribbled away on their clipboards. Erin glanced at them briefly, and frowned. The man smiled again, obviously noting her wariness.

"They're merely here to observe," He intoned, "Relax, you're talking to me Erin, not them."

Erin scowled, but nodded and turned back to face the man.

"Alright, fine…" she muttered, still looking distrustful.

Dr. Chenfield nodded slowly and smiled his bland smile.

"Good, good. Now tell me Erin, how do you feel?" He asked, eyes the only real part of his face; they were sharp and never removed from Erin's face.

Erin dropped the man's gaze before answering.

"Fine, bit of a headache though." She said, sounding too cheerful and confident to be truly believable.

Alex frowned in confusion, he wasn't sure what was happening here, but it was obvious from the way Erin and the doctor were interacting that there was some subtle game being played here.

The doctor nodded and waved at one of his colleagues to go get something.

"Yes, well, that's to be expected." He agreed reasonably, "You suffered quite a whack on the head after all."

Erin glared at Alex again as he sniggered discreetly.

"Well, I'm fine now." She muttered, watching as the doctor who'd been sent out returned with a small, plastic bottle. The doctor silently offered the bottle to Erin. She stared at him in confusion for a second, before taking the bottle. She took the lid off and had a look at the pills inside.

"Painkillers?" She asked hopefully, rolling one of the pills between her index finger and thumb.

The doctor shook his head.

"No, sedatives. You don't sleep well apparently." The man grunted, going back to scribbling away on his clipboard.

Erin looked slightly worried, but she hid it well.

"Thanks… I guess." She muttered, putting the lid back on the bottle. Then, she looked up to face Dr. Chenfield again.

"Can I ask a couple of questions please?" Erin asked, being more polite then what was strictly necessary.

Dr. Chenfield nodded and smiled his bland smile.

"Of course, but there are some things I am not authorized to discuss with you though."

Erin looked askew at the man but her polite tone didn't slip.

"Right…" She seemed to pause for a moment to get her thoughts in order, "My first question is, are Alex and I going to be put under arrest?"

The man shook his head and gestured for his scribbling colleagues to leave the room. They all did so silently, closing the door behind them. Once they were all gone, Dr. Chenfield spoke.

"No, you and Alex here are to be kept free, although obviously there will be certain constraints placed upon that liberty." He said, glancing at Alex briefly.

"Obviously." Erin repeated, sounding more thoughtful then agreeable. "Okay, my second question is, when will we be allowed to leave this place? I think that we both feel fine, so I'd like to be able to get out soon."

Dr. Chenfield smiled even wider (Alex began to wonder if eventually his smile would actually reach from ear to ear and spilt his head in half) and the man blinked slowly.

"Well, regardless of how you feel, both of you have suffered severe injuries and will have to undergo at least a day's close observation before I could begin to estimate at a date for discharge."

Erin looked less then happy at that, and Alex shared her sentiment. He was sick of lying on a bed with nothing to do; he didn't even have a book or TV. He was looking forward to getting out of the clinic too, even if it meant being transported to MI6 HQ.

Dr. Chenfield tilted his head thoughtfully and watched both Alex and Erin with an unnerving amount of enthusiasm. He was a man who was payed to pick people to pieces and he enjoyed his job. Immensely.

"Is that all?" He asked, sounding immensely similar to a pre-recorded message on an answering machine.

Alex looked at Erin when the girl didn't reply straight away. She was staring out into space, and for a moment Alex panicked, recalling the doctor saying that a scan had shown the potential for brain damage. Then, he relaxed as Erin turned around and smiled grimly.

"No, I have heaps more questions." She stated, sounding a little threatening. Alex raised a brow, it didn't take long for Erin's demanding personality to rear its head.

Dr. Chenfield raised a brow as well, he looked slightly annoyed now and Alex wondered if the man's robotic demeanour was just a façade that he did his job behind.

"I'm not the one to be asking for answers," he said, "You will have an opportunity to ask someone much more authorized then me your questions later."

Erin scowled and Alex instinctively braced himself, he could see a blow-up here.

"I don't want to wait to ask though," Erin argued, voice soft but dripping with venom, "I'd like my answers…NOW!"

Dr. Chenfield scowled as well, and Alex saw then why he remained so emotionless all the time. When he frowned, the man's face twisted into an ugly leer, his forehead wrinkling badly and his bottom lip jutted out awkwardly. Alex flinched and guessed correctly that the man had had plastic surgery at some point and the results had gone wrong. Erin started as well, but to her credit, she didn't seem intimidated.

"I do hope you are not trying to tell me what to do Ms. Gregorovich!" Dr. Chenfield hissed softly, voice every bit as dangerous as Erin's.

Erin sneered.

"And what if I am?" she asked, eyes taunting the doctor to try and react.

Dr. Chenfield smiled unpleasantly and Alex suddenly knew the man had been preparing for the eventuality of conflict with Erin. The way the man leered told him that the doctor had tucked a final trick away up his sleeve.

"I am in charge of your Father's treatment as well, medically and in the general sense," Dr. Chenfield said softly, "And if you prove yourself to be deliberately antagonistic and problematic, I will make sure that that treatment suffers accordingly."

Erin's face suddenly paled and emptied of expression. Alex winced, he knew that the doctor's low blow had hit and hit hard.

'_It's just bizarre,'_ Alex thought to himself, _'Erin is the child, and yet she's the one who's always protecting the other; the other being a Father who doesn't even seem to care for her. It's more then bizarre, it's just wrong…'_

Erin took a breath in and visibly struggled to bring herself under control for a second. Then, she looked up and smiled. Her smile was not authentic though, her lips were stretched too tightly and her eyes were hard and cold.

"Very well," Erin nodded angrily, "I see how this is going to be then. I trust you will accept my word if I inform you that I intend to behave myself then?" She asked, voice shaking a little from fury.

Dr. Chenfield smiled, mollified.

"Excellent, that is much better Ms. Gregorovich." He said condescendingly. "You may ask one last question." He added, in what he probably considered an act of charity.

For a moment, Alex thought Erin was going to lose it when the man said that, but she managed to keep her temper.

"That's very…_kind_ of you Doctor." She half hissed, teeth clenched, "I will have to take you up on that offer there."

Dr. Chenfield's smile slipped a little, but the man nodded benevolently.

"What do you want to know then?" he asked.

Erin's eyes were hard as she asked,

"Where exactly _is_ my Father, and is he okay?"

Dr. Chenfield scowled a little.

"That's two questions," he muttered, mainly to himself. Then, he brightened and smiled again.

"I'm sorry, I am not authorized to tell you where your father is, but I _can_ inform you he is fine, he suffered very minor injuries compared to you and Mr. Rider." He chirruped, smile starting to disturb Alex with the way it flicked on and off unpredictably.

Erin's reaction to that must have looked frightening, because Dr. Chenfield's emotionless manner suddenly slipped.

"Well, I think that's enough for today." The man stuttered, "I think I will leave you two alone now."

Alex suddenly felt he needed to step in here before Erin did something stupid like trying to get out of bed.

"I was wondering," he began, "Seeing as both Erin and I have decided to behave ourselves and it's obvious we're both well, if you could possibly reconsider your decision to keep us in the clinic for so long?"

Alex mentally patted himself on the back, he really knew how to do the 'cute little puppy eyes' thing when need be. It was effective too; his logic coupled with the begging seemed to have swayed Dr. Chenfield because the man gave a sigh.

"Well, I suppose I could," he agreed, "both of you are really doing alright and Liverpool Street has requested your presence ASAP anyway. You too may leave tomorrow; you will be under close observation though."

Alex nodded in genuine happiness.

"Alright, thanks." He began, but before he could continue, Dr. Chenfield swept out of the room, closing the door behind him with a snap.

Not bothering to savour the sudden silence, Erin quickly turned to Alex.

"He seemed eager to leave." She smirked.

Alex laughed and nodded.

"Must have been your charming personality." He agreed, leaning back lazily. Erin grinned and Alex smiled, Erin's face was transformed when she smiled; she went from being merely pretty to being radiant. Also, he was genuinely glad to see her happy for once, god knew that neither of them had much reason for happiness lately.

"Probably." Erin agreed. Then, she sighed, sparking concern in Alex.

"What's wrong? You sound down." He asked tentatively, not sure if his assistance would be something Erin would appreciate.

Erin surprised him though by smiling wearily at him and shaking her head.

"Yeah, I am feeling a bit stressed." She admitted, running her fingers through her hair distractedly.

Alex smiled understandingly.

"Yeah, I sorta figured that," he teased, "I wanna know why you're so stressed though. Maybe I can help?"

Erin took his question seriously, staring at him thoughtfully.

"You know what, maybe you can." She mused out loud, "It's not like I know anyone else who'd understand right?"

Alex smirked, but nodded as well.

"Yeah, I'm afraid that the number of teenage spies in the UK is sadly small. In fact, you could say we're a threatened species." He pointed out, a touch bitterly.

Erin laughed, and shrugged.

"Well, I guess that's right. So I figure you're stuck hearing my numerous problems out."

Alex nodded and did his best to look like he was listening.

"Seriously, if you want to tell me what's wrong, you can." He said.

Erin smiled to herself and Alex noticed that she was blushing pink again. He tried to pretend he hadn't noticed, and before he knew it, he was blushing too. They looked up at each other, saw that both of them were blushing, and burst out laughing.

"You look like such a moron!" Erin giggled, shaking from the effort of keeping her laughter contained. Alex raised a brow and managed to choke out words through his laughs,

"You don't look to intelligent yourself!" he sniggered.

Erin gave a last laugh and settled down.

"Seriously though," she sighed, "I'm glad you're listening to me. No one else ever has, although that's my own fault."

Alex didn't say anything; he just sat silently and waited for her to go on. Erin hesitated for a second, but then, she spat it all out rapid-fire.

"I just feel trapped being here, I hate it when people control me like this and I'm sore all over and I haven't been able to sleep properly in two years because I have such bad dreams!" She said, all without taking a breath.

Alex stared, he wondered what to say. He decided on telling her the truth.

"I know how you feel, I hate being back in MI6's control too." He said quietly, "They're responsible for so much pain in my life, I was so happy when they thought I'd ditched because I thought I'd gotten away."

Erin looked guilty, she looked away briefly and Alex felt bad for bringing it up.

"Sorry about that," Erin muttered, "I shouldn't have given you up; it was a dumb thing to do."

Alex nodded.

"Yeah it was," he agreed, "Calling at all was dumb, surely you knew that you'd be tracked?"

Erin scowled at him, but the corners of her mouth twitched from trying to suppress a grin.

"Actually, it didn't cross my mind." She admitted, "And let's not turn this into a 'Point out all Erin's many flaws' fest, okay? I'm trying to apologize and you're making it very difficult."

Alex smirked but nodded submissively.

"Okay, I accept your apology. Besides, I think you've atoned for your behaviour, partly at least, already." He said smugly.

Erin glanced at him in confusion, not understanding.

"Not that I'm one to argue, but how do you figure that?" She asked curiously.

Alex's smirk grew, but Erin noted with a little amusement he was blushing slightly.

"Umm, in the car? When I had to 'revive' you?" He pointed out awkwardly.

Erin's eyes widened and she found that she too was blushing, a lot more violently then Alex as well.

"Oh God, I was actually trying to block that from memory!" She moaned, "And now you've brought it all back, thanks a bunch!"

Erin trailed off miming being horrified.

Alex watched with amusement, but pushed the matter.

"Seriously, the look on your face… Priceless!" He sniggered, dodging quickly as Erin flung a pillow at him.

Erin scowled playfully.

"Don't push it Rider!" She mock threatened, "You might cause me to do something rash!"

Alex raised a brow, unimpressed.

"Like what?"

Erin thought about it for a minute, and then an evil grin crossed her face.

"I'll go tell the nice doctor you need more pain meds!" She threatened, sitting up on her bed.

Alex frowned at her in mild consternation.

"You wouldn't!" He muttered, folding his arms.

Erin smirked.

"Oh I would!"

Then, she jumped off her bed. Or tried anyway. Although Erin was healing quickly, she was still weak and her stamina was very low. The blonde girl barely took three steps before she stumbled and her face went pale. Alex managed to lunge forward and grab her before she fell. With a little effort, he managed to guide her back to her bed.

"Maybe I won't try that again." Erin panted, beads of sweat dripping down her face.

"No, maybe not." Alex agreed, pursing his lips disapprovingly, "That really wasn't very bright."

Erin snorted, but didn't resist as Alex sat her down carefully.

"It's a talent of mine." She rasped, leaning back weakly.

Alex smiled, a little sarcastically if truth be told.

"What, doing stupid things that you regret not too long afterwards?" He teased, walking back to his own bed.

Erin nodded and lay back with a wince.

"Yeah, something like that." She muttered, "I think I'm going back to sleep now."

Alex nodded slowly, he was tired too.

"Not a bad idea actually," he agreed, "If we wanna be out of here by tomorrow, we'd better look good."

For a minute, Alex thought Erin was asleep because there was no reply. Then,

"Look good? Rider, I always look good. Too bad about you though."

Alex laughed in hesitant recognition of the joke.

"Touché." He mumbled, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Alan Blunt looked up from the computer screen on his desk. The monitor showed live footage from the clinic that Alex and Erin were in. Until five minutes ago, he'd been watching their room specifically. He'd closed the monitor down and looked up at Mrs. Jones who stood waiting. 

"They're doing very well, both of them." Blunt muttered reluctantly, "The doctors say that they're both healing from their injuries very quickly and should be ready in time for what we have in mind"

Mrs. Jones nodded slowly, but Blunt noticed a rather grim expression cross her face.

"You have something on your mind." He noted, eyes speculative.

Mrs. Jones nodded.

"Yes I do." She agreed, "I have rather a lot to say."

Blunt looked a little wary, but he nodded anyway.

"Alright then, say what you want."

Mrs. Jones nodded briskly before speaking.

"It's about Alex and Erin, I know that their doctor said that physically, they're both in excellent condition, but I have some serious doubts about their mental health."

Alan Blunt raised a brow.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, even though he knew almost word for word what his Deputy would say.

Mrs. Jones shot him a look that suggested she knew what he was thinking.

"Whilst they've been here, I've had a professional phychologist examine both of them. His diagnosis was not a good one, although the reports are only preliminary. He'll need a longer, more in depth session with both of them to get an idea of their mental state."

Blunt nodded slowly, and picked up a pen and notepad.

"I see," He muttered. "And what do these preliminary reports suggest?"

Mrs. Jones paused to hand over a thick folder she'd been holding. Blunt took it wordlessly and opened it, reading the pages inside silently. After a minute, he looked up again with raised brows.

"I see what you mean." He agreed, "The doctor's opinion of the consistent nightmares both have been suffering particularly worries me."

Mrs. Jones nodded and folded her arms.

"I don't think we can even suggest sending them out in the field without a more in depth examination first." She said pointedly, eyes hard.

To her surprise, Blunt nodded in agreement.

"Your right, I will talk to Dr. Western about it today, the sooner she can see them the better. He said, writing a few notes on his notepad.

Mrs. Jones' expression was approving, but she didn't move. Blunt looked up at her.

"Anything else you want to discuss?" He asked, sounding a little less welcoming.

"Yes, it's about Erin. Partly anyway." Mrs. Jones nodded, "She and Dr. Chenfield had a conflict today; he had to resort to blackmail."

Blunt raised a brow and put his pen down.

"He brought the girl's Father into the argument, didn't he?" He asked, showing his innate ability to guess people's actions accurately.

Mrs. Jones nodded slowly, obviously assembling what she said next in her mind.

"I knew that Dr. Chenfield would, I was the one who suggested it as an effective method in ensuring her cooperation." Blunt told Mrs. Jones, going back to writing out his notes. "What of it?"

Mrs. Jones looked less happy now, she hesitated before speaking.

"Actually, I'd wondered if you reconsidered you reconsidered your position concerning Yassen?" She asked, glancing at a report that lay on her boss's desk. It was marked 'Top Secret' and she could see the words 'Priority One, Wanted Number 3' printed above a grainy picture that an agent had managed to get of Yassen several months previously. The agent had been killed shortly after conveying the picture to HQ. His body was found a week later with Grach MP-443 bullet lodged in his skull.

Blunt scowled, a rare thing for him.

"No I haven't, and I won't." He half snapped, "You know as well as I do that we need all the skill we can get if we are going to avoid disaster here in London and overseas!"

Mrs. Jones pursed her lips disapprovingly and glanced at the Russian's photo again.

"Good luck selling this to Alex and Erin, never mind Yassen." She muttered, "We're going to need it."

* * *

**Two Days Later**

"Rider?"

Alex glanced up from the book he'd been reading; a school textbook labelled "Grammar for Secondary School Students". All his school stuff had been waiting for him when he'd arrived at the Putney residence he and Erin were currently being housed.

"Yes?" He asked, a little warily. He didn't know the man who was addressing him, but he had the feeling the guy was MI6; the man was fit, alert and Alex could see the outline of a holster through his long coat.

"I need you to come with me." The man said, a slight cockney accent clinging to his words.

Alex pouted convincingly and held up his textbook.

"But I'm reading about the structure of a paragraph!" He whined, managing not laugh at the man's expression.

"Erm, well, be that as it may, you still need to come with me." The man muttered, taking the book from Alex.

"Oh well, it was actually boring as hell anyway." Alex shrugged, following the man out of the room. They walked down the hallway and into the front room where Erin was standing nervously with another man standing guard over her. Even though they'd been reassured that both of them were not 'prisoners or even in serious trouble anymore', both Erin and Alex were required to have a guard follow them everywhere. Alex's initial euphoria at being let out of the clinic had died down considerably after a day being bored stiff with nothing but his school books to entertain him in the small house where he and Erin were.

Erin was even more annoyed by it then Alex, the first guard assigned to her had been subjected to a highly explicit barrage of verbal abuse (in which 'effing asshole' was practically a polite term of endearment compared to the rest of her vocabulary), quickly and happily followed by a sneaky blow to the head that knocked the unfortunate man out cold. After that incident, a better guard was assigned to watch her; the new guy was twice her height and weight. Erin looked very displeased at being bested, although she cheered up when she saw Alex.

"Hey!" She chirped, "Do you know where we're going?"

Alex shrugged, but kept moving. His guard looked impatient, like they were behind schedule or something.

"Nope, but I'm guessing it's not Disney Land." Alex said, earning himself a poke in the shoulder. His guard pushed him out of the way, opened the front door and did the daily sniper check. To the best of Alex's knowledge, the process was basically walk outside and if you didn't get shot getting the newspaper, there were no snipers around and you got first dibs on the comics section.

Apparently, there were no sniper's around, because Alex found himself being pushed quickly outside and to the Jaguar that had just pulled up outside. Erin was being pulled along by her guard, and it seemed that she wasn't going to try anything stupid with this guy; she did as he told her without arguing. Alex rolled his eyes as he was shoved dramatically into the black car. Erin sat down next to him, and both their guards climbed in as well; one in the back with them, the other in the front passenger seat. Alex turned to Erin.

"Now, no crashing this car!" He said, mock serious. "This is an expensive machine, and I just got all the glass from the last collision out of my skin thanks!"

Erin smirked and playfully punched him in the shoulder, earning herself a growl (no really, an actual growl) from the MI6 agent sitting next to her.

The car trip wasn't long, but the silence that everyone spent it in made it seem to stretch on to the point that Alex got out happily when they stopped. His happiness quickly shrivelled up when he the building they were outside of; MI6 HQ. Next to him, Erin moaned complainingly. They'd both known that this was something that had always been going to happen, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant when it finally happened.

Before either of them could complain too much, Alex and Erin were pushed forward and guided up to the front doors. One of the guards opened the door, and they found themselves in the front lobby. The receptionist barely looked up, she just waved them through.

Alex sighed and walked forward miserably, headed for the elevator at the other side of the room. The doors must have been proximity triggered, because they slid open noiselessly as Alex drew near. He looked over at his guard who nodded in the direction of the elevator. Frowning, Alex walked in with Erin not far behind. In the little box, the concealed scanners did their stuff, ensuring that no one was coming up with a small nuclear device or worse strapped to their chests. The scan came up clean, or so Alex assumed because the elevator stopped on the 15th floor and opened up into a hallway. As Alex stepped out, he had to move out of the way for two men who came down the corridor. Alex started as he realized one of the men was Yassen; he was in handcuffs and being led down the hallway. The Russian barely glanced at Alex as he walked past, but Alex could still see the warning in his eyes:

'_Don't let Erin know.'_

Alex gave a nod and Yassen looked away, satisfied. Trying to cause a delay long enough for Yassen to disappear from sight, Alex stooped in the elevator doors. Everyone nearly bumped into him and Alex heard Erin protest.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She asked, sounding a little edgy.

Alex just coughed and tried to think of an excuse; and fast, his guard was looking more pissed off by the second.

"I need to…to tie my shoes laces!" He declared, wincing inwardly at his pathetic pretext. He never got the chance to even pretend to do anything of the sort though; Erin's guard gave another growl and simply pushed him forward roughly. Everyone came out from the elevator and Alex flinched, bracing himself for Erin's shout. It never came though; Yassen and his guard had disappeared around a corner. With a sigh of relief, Alex followed as the MI6 agents started moving forward again.

Walking slowly, Alex wondered why Yassen was here in MI6 HQ. Thinking back to seeing the Russian in the corridor, Alex realized for the first time that's he hadn't payed attention to the assassin's expression. He could see it clearly though n his mind, there had been a grim set to the man's face. That and something Alex had difficulty accepting; fear. Alex wondered what could cause even Yassen Gregorovich to worry.

'_Whatever it is, I don't think it's anything good...'_ Alex thought bleakly. He was beginning to think that maybe his immediate future would be no less dismal.

* * *

Yassen was angry. And anyone or anything that made the Russian angry usually ended up dead. Not today though; today Yassen was handcuffed and in the lion's den, metaphorically speaking. Even if he could somehow escape his handcuffs and guard and run for it, the Russian would be lucky to make it out of the building without being gunned down. It was an impossible task, escape. 

So, Yassen allowed the man in front of him to lead him down the hallway without resisting even though he knew what was to come. The Russian was a 'Priority One' enemy of MI6; he was being taken to interrogation. Interrogation was an understatement though; legal torture was more like it. Yassen resisted the urge to swear in Russian, he knew that nothing he did would help him here. He had no intention of telling his captor anything, no matter what was thrown at him.

He did have his doubts about that resolution however when he saw the inside of the room labelled 'Interrogation Block Two'. The room was white all over, with a one way mirror making up the back wall. There was a single chair in the middle of the room with a large table behind it. The equipment set out on the table looked a cross between the sort of stuff you'd find in a garage and a hospital laboratory. There was a laptop set up on the table, its screen was blank at the moment but Yassen's gut instinct was that nothing good would come from the computer.

Just before the door shut behind Yassen and his guard, two people entered the room. One was a man; average height but strongly built. The other was a woman who was less bulky and less intimidating then the man, but her eyes were sharp and there was a dangerous air to the way she carried herself. Her long black hair was tied back, leaving her pretty face uncovered. Yassen was surprised to discover he considered the woman the real threat at the moment.

"Please, sit."

The woman motioned to the chair, voice clear but sharp, like a piece of glass. Yassen glanced at the chair curiously, noticing the metal restraints on the arms of the chairs for the first time with a sinking feeling. Yassen hesitated, but said nothing, glaring at the dangerous woman viciously. His anger did nothing for him though, the man who'd come in with her stared back at the Russian.

"That wasn't a suggestion." The man said softly, tensing slightly.

Yassen breathed out slowly and nodded once before sitting in the chair. His guard came and immediately the Russian knew his bad feeling about the restraints had been legitimate, the metal restraints were locked over his wrists. Yassen's lip curled derisively, everything in the room from the austere white walls to the metal cuffs which were cutting off the circulation from his hands was designed to intimidate him. In reality, he considered it all pathetic and overly dramatic. The Russian continued to glare at the woman who opened a metal case on the table. She rummaged around inside, Yassen couldn't see what she was doing.

"I hope that you make this easy on yourself Mr. Gregorovich and don't attempt to resist. It would be much easier for all of us." The woman said suddenly, sharp voice reverberating in the eerily silent room.

Yassen raised a brow and shook his head.

"Attempting to break its prisoner's seems to be something MI6 enjoys." He answered quietly, a subtle note of sarcasm in his voice.

The woman looked up at briefly.

"Attempting? I would have said that 'successfully breaking its prisoner's' would describe it better. There hasn't been anyone yet who's been able to stay silent; everyone's given in to us at one point or another. The longest anyone has been able to resist my methods is 3 hours." She retorted, causing Yassen to smirk. The Russian knew that he was on top when it came to a battle of willpower.

"Well, that's a record I intend to break." Yassen said softly, more to himself then the woman. She still heard him though, she looked up and stepped forward, a metallic hypodermic syringe in one hand.

"Go ahead and try, the clock starts now." She hissed, needle emptying itself into Yassen's neck.

* * *

Alex couldn't help but panic as he approached Mrs. Jones' office. He knew that although technically he wasn't in trouble, he was going to experience the repercussions of placing his loyalty with Yassen and Erin inside that office. So, Alex hesitated, his hand hovering in mid-air as he tried to work up the will power to push the door open. Next to him, Erin had paused too, although Alex wasn't sure what was going through her mind. Looking at her face gave him the resolve he needed though; Alex pushed the door open confidently and walked in. Erin followed less surely. 

Mrs. Jones looked up from where she'd been sitting at her desk, doing something on the computer.

"Alex, Erin…Take a seat please." She instructed, motioning to the two chairs in front of her desk. Both Alex and Erin did as she asked, glancing at each other uncertainly. Mrs. Jones noticed their apprehension and did her best to smile kindly.

"Relax, you two have already been told you're not in trouble!" She said, smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Then what are we here for?" Erin asked suspiciously, drumming her fingers against the arm of her chair nervously. Alex looked at her sympathetically, he knew what she was going through, unsure of what was going to happen; he'd felt the same thing after being brought in after attempting to shoot Mrs. Jones.

"I just need to ask some questions, and you'll have the opportunity to do the same if you wish." Mrs. Jones answered, pulling a peppermint out of a drawer in her desk. The woman undid its wrapper quickly and popped it in her mouth. She took a moment to look quickly at her computer screen.

Alex knew Erin was listening closely to the MI6 Deputy, but he wasn't so convinced; her genial manner was making him all the more suspicious considering she was usually less then welcoming.

"What sort of questions do you need to ask?" He asked suspiciously, unconsciously gripping the arms of his chair tightly. Mrs. Jones raised a brow and frowned slightly.

"I get the feeling you're loathe to trust me Alex." She noted, sounding a little stern.

Alex smirked and raised a brow.

"Wow, how do you figure that?" he asked sarcastically, "If I am unwilling to trust you, can you really be surprised?"

Mrs. Jones had opened her mouth to reply, but she closed it slowly when he said that.

"I suppose you do, trust must be earned, I intend to do just that; earn your trust." Mrs. Jones said, sounding a little chastened.

Erin shook herself and an unimpressed look crossed her face. She appeared to be disgusted with what she was hearing.

"You have your work cut out for you then." She sneered, folding her arms obstinately.

Mrs. Jones frowned slightly, but didn't rise to the other's baiting.

"I guess I do, now, are you both going to cooperate with me?" She asked, glancing at her computer screen again. Alex wondered what was on the screen that was so important she needed to keep checking it.

"Fine, whatever." Erin didn't bother with a yes, so Alex decided he didn't need to either.

"Why not? Should be a bunch of laughs." Alex agreed, wondering where all his sudden love for sarcasm was coming from.

Mrs. Jones pursed her lips disapprovingly, but didn't say anyting. Instead, she began the questioning.

"Tell me Alex, what exactly happened when you got to Poland?" She asked, determined to stay civil.

Alex considered the question seriously, he hadn't stopped to get his thoughts in order and he wanted to give a decent answer.

"For three days, I did what I was supposed to; I sat and watched the camp and made my daily radio checks with the SAS team nearby," he began, pausing for a minute to figure out what to say next, "Then, I guess I got found out, because I was attacked and I had to run through the woods to get away."

Mrs. Jones frowned again, but this time something else was bothering her.

"I don't understand, you should not have been discovered; even if your movement did seem like a contributing factor, I'm sure it's not. You told Colleen already that the document you saw in the cabin said that a source in Liberty had alerted them to MI6 presence."

Alex frowned as well, remembering that little detail suddenly.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, "I thought that it meant there was a leak in special ops?"

Erin didn't seem as interested as the other two, but even she joined in.

"Maybe there's not even a leak or mole, maybe there was just a lapse in security?" She suggested thoughtfully, "No point making a mountain out of a molehill after all."

Mrs. Jones shrugged.

"Possibly, I don't think so though; this was a covert mission, not even the SAS team on site had all the details." She argued, drumming her fingers against her desk.

Alex shrugged.

"Oh well, doesn't matter to me." He yawned, already bored of the topic.

Mrs. Jones looked a little worried still, but she nodded.

"Okay, fair enough. This isn't why I called both of you here." She agreed.

Alex already knew what the next question was going to be, but it still irritated him when it was asked.

"Alex, how did you come into contact with Yassen?" Mrs. Jones asked, sneaking a tiny glance at her computer screen.

Erin looked at Alex interestedly.

"Actually, I'd wondered that too." She nodded, sounding very curious.

Alex rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.

"To be honest, he found me not the other way around. The man almost killed me." He muttered, "Didn't I already explain all this to the woman…Colleen?"

Erin looked vaguely surprised.

"He nearly killed you?" She asked, a little incredulous.

Alex made a face and half shrugged.

"Well, it was by accident." He admitted, ignoring the sceptical expression on Mrs. Jones' face.

Mrs. Jones coughed doubtfully, but didn't argue.

"Alright, my next question is for you Erin; I want to know what happened with you, Wolf's report was a little…dramatic…"

Erin smirked to herself.

"I don't doubt it." She replied.

Mrs. Jones frowned sternly.

"Just tell me everything that happened please." She ordered, sucking on her peppermint.

Alex sighed and settled himself into the chair; he got the feeling this was going to take awhile.

* * *

Mrs. Jones was very worried, talking to both Alex and Erin made one thing apparent, neither one of them wanted anything to do with her or MI6 at all and trying to convince them to do the agency a favour was going to be a hell of a challenge. Also, her concern that they both needed an appointment with the MI6 psychologist seemed more and more legitimate watching them; both teens were on edge, she could see it in the way their eyes were always focused on the room's exits as opposed to her and the way both of them were tensed, ready to spring. 

As if her job wasn't hard enough, Mrs. Jones found it hard to concentrate. She kept glancing at the live camera footage being showed on her computer. Everything was going according to plan so far, but she was far from satisfied with what was happening in Interrogation Block Two.

Vaguely, Mrs. Jones wondered what would happen when Erin found out what was happening there. She knew it wouldn't be anything good.

* * *

John Dermitt was uneasy, he had been watching his colleague work on their prisoner for three and a half hours now, and she had made no progress. Yassen Gregorovich had not uttered a single word the entire time, no matter what was done. John's colleague had retreated to the table, fuming. She was reaching into the metal briefcase on the tale and he knew what for. John Dermitt approached quietly. 

"Belinda?" He spoke softly, at her ear.

She barely glanced at him, just nodded sharply to show she heard him.

"Belinda, this is a bad idea, you can tell he's not going to say anything." John hissed, glancing at Yassen.

The Russian was perspiring and their monitors were telling them his heart rate was substantially elevated, but otherwise, Yassen had not reacted to any method of interrogation they'd installed upon him. He sat perfectly still in the chair, staring straight ahead. John could see the cold anger in the man's eyes though, he knew that they were playing with fire here; he'd read Yassen's profile and knew that eventually the man would be released and when that happened, all hell could break loose.

"Don't tell me how to do my job!" Belinda snarled, whipping around to glare at him viciously. John started, something was wrong here, the whole situation was wrong and he didn't know why or how to fix it.

"Belinda, you-"

"No!" Belinda snapped, shaking her head. "I know what I'm doing, now back off!"

With that, she returned to her task; John could see know that she was refilling the hypodermic, and this time he knew straight away that this was going too far. Yassen's heart rate was already dangerously high; injecting him with what was in the needle could send him into cardiac arrest. John knew the man was already at risk know, when he'd escape MI6 custody before, he'd vanished before all the damage done to his heart by being shot by Damien Cray could be repaired. Now, the Russian could possible pay the price for that.

So, John grabbed Belinda by the wrist and pulled her to the side. He glanced over at Yassen; the Russian didn't react, John wondered if he was too far out of it to even notice what they were up to. Shaking his head, John turned back to Belinda.

"What are you doing?!" He hissed, genuinely confused. Belinda glared at him and tried to pull herself free; it was in vain though, she was half the weight and strength of him.

"I am doing my job!" She retorted, "I was told to extract all the information he had on Liberty!"

John shook his head angrily; the woman was using her job as a way to deter him.

"No, you're not! You know he's not going to break, so you're just causing unnecessary pain now!" He argued.

Belinda sneered at him and used her free hand to flick a strand of hair out of her face.

"Why should I care, why should _either_ of us care?" She demanded, "You've never shown any consideration for any of the captives before!"

John shook his head slowly.

"I don't care about this man, I do care about doing my job right though! If you give him that, you could kill him! Our orders were specific, question him, but do _not_ cause any permanent damage. You know as well as I do that Gregorovich is wanted by Blunt for something later on!"

Belinda didn't back down she just tried to pull herself free again.

"Let me go, that's an order." She demanded coldly, eyes hard.

John shook his head disapprovingly, but did as she said. He watched worriedly as approached Yassen again, needle raised. Then, the unbelievable happened.

Fast as a snake, Yassen pulled a hand free of one of the cuffs. With a wince, John realized that whilst he and Belinda had been arguing, the Russian had been slowly pulling a hand out from underneath the metal restraint. It would have hurt like hell to do, but it would have been possible.

Hand freed, Yassen grabbed the stunned Belinda by the arm, gripping her arm so tightly she dropped the hypodermic with a gasp. Before John could draw his weapon, Yassen lashed out at Belinda; the woman reeled back stunned, giving the Russian the opportunity to undo the other cuff. Now completely free, all hell broke loose, just as John had predicted.

The Russian lunged forward at Belinda, one hand grabbing her by the throat, the other grasping the Glock handgun strapped at her waist. He pulled it free with a tug and threw Belinda to the ground, knocking her out cold. John started and managed to pull his own weapon from his holster. He raised it quickly, but Yassen was already standing, Glock in his uninjured hand. It was level with John's head and although the Russian was doubtlessly in pain, Yassen's aim didn't waver. John knew that unless he did something, his life expectancy could be seconds. His mind seemed to have frozen though, John just stood dumbly, gun half raised staring at the other man.

"Don't shoot." Was all he could say, voice unexpectedly dry and raspy. His heart pounded wildly and John wondered if there was any point pleading with this man; he had read Yassen's profile after all, he knew the Russian would kill him if he wanted, ignoring his begging.

Yassen smiled, but it was not a good humoured one. It was cold, mocking and a little bitter.

"Why shouldn't I? Give me a reason not to kill you now." The Russian said, voice soft and composed. The man didn't seem to have even used any energy freeing himself from the cuffs.

John coughed painfully, trying to think of what to say that would save his life.

"I don't know." He whispered, shocked at himself for how little he was doing to save his own life.

Yassen's smile shrunk a little, and the bitterness in it increased

"Not good enough."

John closed his eyes as he heard the safety come off the Glock in the Russian's hand. He'd always known that his job was dangerous, that he could die doing it; but this wasn't how he'd pictured his own death. John braced himself for the shot he knew that was coming. He wasn't let down; the Glock's sound echoed loudly around the room.

John flinched, but oddly enough; there was no pain. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw that he had never been the Russian's target. He glanced at Belinda's inert form, feeling his stomach churn queasily at the pool of blood spreading around her head. John glanced up at Yassen. The Russian stared back at him levelly, eyes empty.

"My argument is not with you." Yassen said softly, one arm still half raised from aiming at Belinda. "And if you cooperate, there is no need for that to change."

John nodded, he had no wish to end up like Belinda.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, suddenly scared senseless.

Yassen noted his fear with another small smile and glanced at Belinda's body unconcernedly.

"I want you to give me your key-card and stay here and clean up." He said, sounding faintly amused.

John scowled, he should have known. If he gave the Russian his key-card, he would be guilty of treason, and could be criminally charged by MI6.

"I can't do that." He muttered.

Yassen narrowed his eyes and took a step forward.

"That's a pity." The Russian said softly, "I rather hoped you wouldn't force me to this, but I suppose it was inevitable."

John felt dark fear stir inside him. Yassen raised a brow and spoke.

"I know a lot more about you then what you know, John Dermitt. I know you have a wife and two children. I know where they live, and I know that you would do anything to protect them." The Russian's eyes were cold and John suddenly knew that this man would do anything he threatened without a second thought.

"No! I'll give it to you!" He burst out, throwing his own gun down.

John reached into his jacket slowly and pulled out the key-card that would open all the doors he was cleared to go through in this building. He tossed it over; Yassen caught it with his free hand effortlessly. The Russian walked over to the door, sliding the card through the slot to the side. John stirred and spoke suddenly.

"What are you going to do?"

Yassen smirked at him.

"You mean, what are you going to help me do? You are going to take me to see Alan Blunt, or I will kill you know and your family will be next."

John wanted nothing more then to pick his gun up again and shoot the Russian, but he knew he couldn't.

"Fine, I'll take you to him." John hissed, clenching his fists.

Yassen nodded and motioned for him to lead the way.

"Good."

* * *

It was with a sense of enormous relief that Alex and Erin left Mrs. Jones' office. However, they both knew that their ordeal was far from over; they'd been told that they both needed to go see the MI6 psychologist for a quick analysis. 

Alex was annoyed about it; he'd always hated it when people tried to put his actions and thoughts under scrutiny. From what he knew of Erin, he got the sense that she'd feel the same way, maybe even more so then him.

Alex was deeply absorbed in his thoughts that it came as a shock when Erin suddenly spoke.

"What the hell…" Erin's voice was quiet, but Alex could hear the shock and the realization in it. He looked up confusedly and froze; seeing what had caused such a reaction.

Yassen was standing in front of them in the corridor, holding a gun to a man who Alex had never seen before. The Russian looked a little surprised to see Erin and Alex, but he didn't take the gun away from the man with him.

Looking at the Russian, Alex was a little shocked. Yassen was even paler then normal, and the cut above his eye was bleeding again and there were several new grazes on his face. The Russian's face was drawn; pained even and there were livid, red rings around his wrists. Alex could see Yassen was perspiring and that he was on edge.

"Shit! What happened to you?" Alex burst out, eyes wide.

Yassen didn't reply straight away, he took the opportunity to knock the man with him out. Alex raised a brow in confusion.

"He had a knife and tried to stab me in the back whilst leading me to see Alan Blunt." Yassen explained briefly, tucking the gun he held into the waistband of his jeans.

Alex frowned.

"I don't care about that, just answer my question; what happened to you?" He asked.

Yassen shot him a warning glare.

"Nothing happened to me, just a misunderstanding." The Russian muttered, rubbing his left wrist.

Alex felt his mouth fall open. He closed it quickly and folded his arms stubbornly.

"Yeah right!" he snorted, "You look like you lost a fight with a food processor! As for it being a misunderstanding, that's bullshit! No one did this to you because of a 'misunderstanding'!"

The corners of Yassen's mouth twitched, but the Russian resisted the urge to smile at Alex's colourful vocabulary. His amusement vanished quickly when he saw the look on Erin's face; his daughter looked horrified and he felt a brief pang of worry for her.

"Oh my God…" Erin wheezed, eyes wide.

Alex flinched, seemingly only remembering she was there just then. Yassen understood Alex's sentiment; he was braced for his daughter to explode himself.

"Erin, relax." Yassen said, glancing uncertainly between Alex and the door leading to Mrs. Jones' office. Alex knew the Russian was concerned about being heard and he suddenly knew that Yassen wasn't meant to be walking around freely.

Erin didn't relax, she actually did the opposite.

"Who did that to you?!" She demanded, sounding more and more pissed off by the second.

Yassen grimaced, using his uninjured hand to wipe away a trail of blood that was trickling from a cut over his right cheekbone.

"A woman named Belinda did this to me, nasty piece of business." Yassen said grimly, drawing the stolen gun and checking it was loaded.

Erin pressed her lips together stormily.

"She'd dead." Was all the blonde girl said, muttering under breath.

Yassen glanced at his daughter, looking a little amused.

"No need, I've already attended to that." He said calmly, "Anyway, there's not enough time for that. I'm leaving now and you're coming with me."

Alex started; he suddenly realized that things could get very ugly if Yassen attempted to shoot his way out of the building.

"Wait a second, you're not serious?!" He exclaimed.

Yassen raised a brow.

"Why wouldn't I be? I am leaving now; you're welcome to follow if you wish."

Alex stared dumbly for a minute; he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Why would I want to go with you?" Was all he could ask, still frozen.

Yassen shrugged.

"I wouldn't think you would, you made your dislike for me apparent straight away, but I thought it was only fair to offer; you also made your hatred for MI6 apparent too, I thought you might like an opportunity to escape them."

Alex was startled to discover he was seriously considering it. Even more disturbing was the fact he'd already made a decision. Alex shook his head amazedly but looked up.

"Yeah alright." He said, "I'm in."

Yassen smiled grimly and pushed the clip back into his gun with a snap.

"Let's get going then."


	30. The Plan and a Lack of Hospitality

**Okay people, sorry bout da lateness of the installment, i got busy. I'm working on an original story and a series of HILARIOUS Alex Rider short stories to replace one of my other fics (I want one too!) and i do actually have a life besides writing too. Also, this chappie isnt particularly exciting, and for that i apologise, the next one will be much better; both funny and action filled. This chappie is mainly intended to whet your thirst for my writing hahaha. No really, it's just filler so i TOTALLY understand if u hate it and decide that it is crap. Anywho, thats QUITE enough excuses from me...**

**Chapter 27, the Plan and a Lack of Hospitality**

Alex wondered for what felt like the millionth time if what he was doing was the right decision.

'_Then again, it's a little late for second thoughts.'_ He mentally reprimanded himself, trying to focus back on the task at hand.

He, Yassen and Erin were in a stairwell, trying to decide on a course of action.

'_Well, that's not exactly accurate, we know what we're going to do, it's just my obstinacy that's preventing this thing from going right ahead.'_ Alex thought to himself. Then, he started as Yassen spoke up.

"I don't know why you're being so difficult!" The Russian snapped, "This will work, you're just being ridiculous now! It's your annoying inability to trust me that's preventing us from walking out of here; almost literally I might add!"

Alex scowled and folded his arms grumpily across his chest.

"Oh right, because it's my 'annoying inability to trust you' that's making me wary of letting you put a gun to my head and drag me through the lobby of MI6 headquarters!" He argued, trying not to shout.

Yassen looked like he was only just restraining his temper; the Russian gave a shuddering sigh of barely controlled anger and seemingly relaxed a little.

"I've explained before, this is the only way we are going to get out of this building without some trigger happy MI6 agent shooting us in the backs." Yassen said, sounding exasperated now.

Alex didn't back down, he wasn't happy. The idea was that if they came storming into the lobby of the building, looking like Yassen had taken Alex hostage and would shoot him if anyone tried anything that they could escape the building. Alex was adamantly against the plan, there was no way he was letting Yassen put a loaded weapon anywhere near him. In his experience, people did not do things like that unless they intended to use said weapon and Alex still wasn't sure of Yassen's intentions yet.

"I'm still not doing it; if it's the only way, get Erin to do it!" He growled, pointedly half turning away.

Erin glared at him; apparently she wasn't too crazy on the idea of being held 'hostage' by Yassen either. Luckily for her, Yassen wasn't happy with idea either.

"No! You know that won't work, everyone knows that Erin is my family and I wouldn't shoot her. Besides, Erin isn't as valuable to MI6 as you are." Yassen argued, looking more and more impatient, "And we can't afford any more time, we need to get going now! Before it's realized that I've escaped from interrogation!"

As if to underline the urgent situation they were in, klaxon alarms started wailing all over the building and Alex heard the sound of rushing feet as everyone ran to get to safety. Overhead, a speaker churned out a pre-recorded message.

"Security breach, code red, security breach, code red."

Alex sighed and shook his head, Erin looked pissed off.

"That's not good." Yassen muttered, drawing the stolen Glock hurriedly.

Alex thought the Russian meant the alarms at first, but then he heard the radio chatter. He looked up at the stairs and saw the figure of a man wearing a Bluetooth set jogging down the steps. He hadn't seen Yassen, Alex or Erin yet, but that didn't matter; he was about to walk right on top of them. And judging by the big machine gun he was wielding, things were about to get very complicated. Alex glanced over at Yassen.

"What do we do?" He hissed, trying not to panic.

Yassen flicked the safety of the Glock.

"Better plan," The Russian said grimly, "We take a new hostage, and the gun he's carrying. Alex, your job will be convincing the man not to shoot on sight."

Alex sighed, but nodded. Trying to tell a jumpy soldier not to shoot three active threats to MI6 on sight seemed even more dangerous then being a fake hostage; he was beginning to feel like cannon fodder. He gave a grumpy grunt as Yassen and Erin hastened down the staircase behind him a little so they were out of sight.

He didn't have time to sulk though, just then, the soldier rounded a corner and came sprinting down the stairs in front of him. Alex caught a snippet of his radio conversation.

"Entering active sector now, stairwell 4 is clear-"

Then, the man looked up. His face went pale, but his training didn't let him down. Within seconds, the big machine gun was aimed at Alex. Alex swallowed, but managed not to freeze.

"Err, hi?" Alex felt stupid, but it was all he could say with his suddenly dry throat.

The soldier looked confused at encountering a fifteen year old boy in MI6 headquarters. Alex guessed with a smirk that the man hadn't been given all the details. Typical.

"Um, hi?" The soldier seemed to think that Alex was no threat, "Do one of your parents work here?"

Alex suddenly had an idea. He smiled brightly at the soldier and nodded.

"Yes, they work in an office just down there." Alex pointed down the staircase behind him, towards where Yassen and Erin were hiding. Alex could have sworn he'd heard a long suffering sigh when he pointed.

The soldier chewed his bottom lip indecisively; the man was obviously torn between getting back to his job and not letting unauthorized personnel wander around the building. After a second, the soldier seemed to come to a decision. He thought Alex was just a random kid, and he decided to take the kid back to his 'parent'.

"Okay, take me back to your parent, I'll talk to them." The soldier started down the staircase, but he never got far. Erin suddenly popped up with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Erm, my sister?" Alex tried weakly, but it was no good. The solider wheeled around to face him, sudden realization dawning on the man's face. Then, Yassen strode forward, Glock aimed at the back of the soldier's head.

"Put your weapon down please." Yassen commanded, the slight smile on his face confirming Alex's sneaking suspicion that the Russian hadn't missed a beat when the alarms had started.

The soldier cursed loudly, but didn't panic.

"Let me guess, your Father?" He asked Alex sarcastically, slowly placing his machine gun on the floor. Alex made a face of disgust.

"No way! He's the guy who you're all running around trying to stop." He snapped, sounding pissed off, "Now kick the weapon to me now!"

The soldier scowled, but obeyed. Obviously the guy knew that there would be no tolerance for him trying to screw them around. He used his right foot to slide his gun over. Alex picked it up and had a quick look.

The weapon was an M16, and the irony that the gun's name closely matched the name of its owner's employers (MI6) was not lost on Alex. He turned it over in his hands, a little unhappy with the way things were turning out.

Erin held out her hand expectantly, and Alex frowned.

"No way!" He snapped, "I'm keeping this!"

Erin rolled her eyes.

"The man has a secondary weapon dumb ass!" She half laughed, "He's hoping you don't realize he's carrying a Glock automatic as well so he can shoot one of us as soon as we turn around."

The soldier gave a grumpy sort of grunt and Alex mentally reprimanded himself for not thinking of that. He turned around and faced the man.

"Where's the gun?" He demanded, trying to sound threatening, "I want you to slowly reach for it and place it on the ground in front of you!!!"

Erin shot Alex an odd look and he didn't blame her; he sounded like an overly dramatic action movie and he knew it.

Luckily for all of them, the soldier wasn't so blasé, he did as Alex told him to quickly and quietly. Alex picked the Glock up and tossed it to Erin. She caught it expertly and grinned at him.

"Alright, let's go then!" She chirped, weighing the gun in her left hand. Alex hadn't noticed she was left handed before.

Yassen looked amused by his daughter's apparent disregard for the gravity of the situation, but nodded anyway.

"Alright, we need to go before anyone else comes."

The Russian walked over to the soldier.

"What's your name?" He asked.

The soldier looked unwilling to answer, so Yassen frowned at him.

"You are extremely expendable at the moment, so I would cooperate if I were you." Yassen suggested quietly, motioning for the soldier to step in front of him. The soldier grimaced as the Glock was pressed against the back of his head.

"It's Stiles…" The soldier growled.

Yassen nodded.

"Much better," the Russian muttered, "If you cooperate with us Stiles, you will come out of this alive and well. If not…"

There was no need for Yassen to finish his sentence; they all knew what would happen if the solider didn't cooperate.

* * *

Mrs. Jones had barely waited for Alex and Erin to leave before getting back to work. Dr. Western would call her when the two of them got to her office. The entire building seemed to depend on a network of complex procedures and constant correspondence. Mrs. Jones had been a little irked by that when she'd first joined the job, but she was well and truly used to it now.

Because of this, it struck her as a little odd when she wasn't contacted after a couple of minutes. Dr. Western's office was only down one floor; both Alex and Erin should be there by now. Mrs. Jones didn't believe in things like being too careful; in her experience taking every precaution necessary paid off. So, she didn't hesitate once when she called up the camera footage for interrogation block two, every instinct told her it was the right thing to do.

What she saw shocked her; Yassen was gone and the only person in the room was Belinda. Only, Belinda was on the ground. With a start, Mrs. Jones realized the woman was dead; there was an ever widening pool of blood around her head. She had been shot.

Once she'd processed what was on screen, Mrs. Jones wasted no time in putting out an alert. Her fingers were a blur as she speed-dialled on her phone. The other end was picked up after only two rings.

"Blunt?"

She didn't waste time on pleasantries.

"Yassen's escaped from interrogation, Alex and Erin are gone." She said quickly, glancing a little uneasily at her office door.

Blunt answered just as quickly.

"That's unfortunate, but the three of them can hardly hope to escape the building, they'll be near by. Put out an alarm!"

Then, Blunt hung up. Mrs. Jones did likewise, but was dialling another number within a second. This time, it was to building security.

"Hello, Marshall here."

"This is Mrs. Jones; we have a level one security alert. You know what to do."

Mrs. Jones then hung up quickly. She didn't stop there though, she type quickly at her computer, and within a minute, she had access to all the cameras in the building. She scanned quickly through all of them, searching intently. After a couple of minutes, she found what she was looking for. Pleased, Mrs. Jones zoomed in on the shot. She gasped out loud when she saw the footage.

* * *

'_How the hell did I let myself believe that this was a good idea?'_ Alex wondered, feeling a little shell shocked. He was standing in the middle of the building's lobby, wielding an M16 and obeying orders from Yassen; who had one arm wrapped around their captive's throat, using the other to press the stolen Glock to the unfortunate man's head. Erin and Alex were standing either side of Yassen, looking like bodyguards. Everyone in the lobby had frozen, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening. The three soldiers by the front doors looked especially shocked; Alex guessed no one had bothered mentioning that they were trying to capture Yassen Gregorovich.

Then, the silence was shattered as Erin screamed out,

"Everyone on the ground _now_ or Stiles gets a bullet in the brain!"

Immediately, the woman at the reception desk screamed and ducked down. The guards seemed to remember their place and quickly brought their weapons to bear, making it a standoff. Behind him, Alex could hear more security trying to get through the steel door that Erin had locked shut behind them. Apparently the men were not equipped with C4 explosive, because no one had gotten through yet.

One of the guards called out, and Alex had to shake himself to hear what they were saying.

"Put your weapons down, now! Release your hostage and put the weapons down!"

Alex shook his head; obviously these men didn't know just what methods that Yassen would go to escape.

Erin shook her head at the men's apparent lack of sense and did something smart. She quickly changed her position so that the receptionist was being aimed at. Alex wondered what she was trying to achieve, but Yassen gave an approving nod.

"Are you willing to risk two lives; one of which is an innocent?" The Russian asked the frightened soldiers, "I will kill both if you do not step down now."

One of the soldiers shook his head.

"You wouldn't…" The man muttered uncertainly, "Stiles maybe, but you wouldn't shoot the woman."

Yassen raised a brow and Alex suddenly got a bad feeling. The thumps and crashes of the guards trying to get through the door faded away as he turned to watch Erin. Yassen gave a nod to his daughter, and Alex suddenly knew what was going to happen. He opened his mouth to call out; to tell her not to do it, but it was too late. There was a shot, and an ear-piercing shriek. Erin stood dispassionately looking at the woman who'd she'd just shot in the shoulder. Alex felt his stomach churn, he'd forgotten something; Erin was Yassen's daughter, she was every bit as cold and ruthless as her father, she just didn't exhibit as often.

In front of him, the soldiers cursed and gave angry shouts. Not one of them did anything though, all three of them knew now that Yassen would not give another chance.

Yassen's eyes were cold and hard as he regarded the soldiers.

"This is your last chance, slide your weapons over and get on the ground or both the woman and your friend die." The Russian ordered, flicking the safety off the gun he was holding to Stiles' head.

When the men guarding the front doors hesitated, Erin began yelling. Alex suddenly understood she was just as desperate to escape MI6 as Yassen was.

"You've got ten seconds!" She screamed, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…four…three-"

"No, we're doing it!" One of the soldiers yelled, laying down slowly and sliding his gun away. The other two did likewise at a gesture from the first man. Erin gave a satisfied smile and quickly ran over to the soldiers. She kicked their guns a safe distance away and glanced over at Yassen. The Russian nodded approvingly and pushed Stiles forwards, keeping his aim level with the man's head the entire time. He was made to lay down next to his comrades.

"I want all your flash-bangs!" Erin snapped, so confident Alex wondered if this was something she did often.

Looking extremely mutinous, the soldier's did as they were told; they were each carrying three flash-bang grenades. Whilst Alex took care of knocking the soldiers out, Erin cut through the outer shell of each grenade, careful not to go too deep. Alex couldn't see exactly what she was doing, but he got the feeling it was nothing good. His suspicion was confirmed when she stood suddenly.

"Right, I'd say we have about a minute if we're lucky before all of these go off!" She declared, sounding a little hysterically happy. Alex stared in horror,

"Bloody hell!" He yelped, eyes widening, "Why are we sitting around here then?!"

Erin smiled.

"My thoughts exactly!" She chirped. "But drop the gun first; we won't get far carrying that on the street!"

Then, she ran over to one of the unconscious guards. To Alex's confusion, she took one of the men's belts. Yassen seemed to understand what she was doing, he gave an approving nod.

"Alright, we need to get out of here now!"

Trying not to panic, Alex followed as Erin and Yassen darted to the front doors. As soon as he was through, Erin slammed the doors shut behind him and looped the belt around the handles and drove a knife she'd stolen from one of the soldier's into the looped leather, meaning the doors couldn't be opened from the inside.

"It won't hold for long, but it'll give us a chance!" Erin explained, "Now come on!"

Alex just shook his head in disbelief and meekly followed Yassen and Erin as they quickly merged with the thick crowds lining the streets. After walking for a less then a minute, there was a loud thump, and people started shouting as thick smoke leaked out from underneath a certain building's doors. Whilst everyone hurried to take a look, Yassen, Erin and Alex just kept moving forward. They couldn't be anywhere near here when someone thought to let the angry soldiers out of the building.

* * *

When things go wrong, there always has to be someone on whom the blame falls, it's an unfortunate fact. In this case, Roger Marshall, head of building security, was the unlucky soul who ended up facing the wrath of an angry Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt. The man was summoned to Mrs. Jones' office and stood in front of the desk as Mrs. Jones scolded him like a mother berating a disobedient child. It was a humiliating experience for a man with ten years military experience.

"Would you kindly explain why you felt the need to allow three active threats to MI6 escape the building?" Mrs. Jones asked, eyes hard and voice exasperated.

Roger Marshall resisted the urge to curl his lip derisively, he didn't appreciate being made an example of, but he wasn't going to let his superior know that.

"With all due respect, I didn't _allow_ them to escape," He said stiffly, "My men and I were guarding the front doors as is instructed in policy. They had hostages, and I felt that I did not have the authority to risk the lives of two people. I'm sure you'd be much more displeased if Stiles and Lucinda had been killed?"

Mrs. Jones narrowed her eyes and tapped her fingers against her desk.

"Did you not think of shooting the three of them? You are armed with dart guns for a reason." She pointed out sharply, reaching into her desk for a peppermint.

Roger Marshall scowled, he knew all this already! Did this woman really think that that detail hadn't escaped his mind?! Taking a deep breath in, he calmed himself before replying.

"I am perfectly aware that I was fully authorized to use my firearm. However, given the circumstances, I decided that that would not be a productive measure to take due to the fact that the hostages could have been killed before the sedatives took effect. Not to mention that there were two hostages being held, presumably one would have been killed if we'd attempted an attack."

Mrs. Jones still looked displeased, but didn't argue the matter further; she merely gave a displeased grunt and sucked on her peppermint.

"You may go." She growled after a moment. Roger Marshall did so happily.

Once the man had closed the door behind him, Mrs. Jones sighed tiredly and shuffled some papers on her desk.

"Do we have any updates on their last known whereabouts?" She asked out loud, scanning through the reports in front of her.

Alan Blunt glanced at her from the where he stood by the window behind her.

"We do in fact." He nodded, "We just got an alert notifying us of three tickets bought for a train going to Cornwall. The CCTV face recognition program confirmed it was them."

Mrs. Jones didn't look impressed.

"I think we should send an agent out to Alex's home, in case they head there." She said, swallowing the last of her peppermint. She immediately reached into a drawer for a new one; she went through them twice as fast in times of stress.

Blunt frowned at her.

"You don't seriously think that Alex would be foolish enough to go to his own house when he surely knows we will be searching for him?" He enquired, in a tone of polite annoyance.

Mrs. Jones grimaced, she knew her theory was a hard one to accept, but she was determined to make her point.

"The boy may not be thinking clearly, he may have used the train tickets as a decoy to put us off, but my point is, we don't know what Alex will do! That's why we should take all the precautionary measures we can!" She argued, sounding a little exasperated.

Blunt shook his head and folded his arms slowly.

"Alex may be naïve enough to make a mistake like that, but you're forgetting Yassen is with him; _he's_ smart enough not to do something like that, you know as well as I do the man has a natural instinct for escape."

Mrs. Jones must have still looked unhappy, because Alan Blunt sighed and gave in.

"Alright, how about we make a call to Ms. Starbright and tell her Alex has an injury that requires immediate medical attention, and that she needs to call us if he comes home?" The grey man suggested, "That's all we can really do anyway, we're stretched thin with the current threat anyway."

Mrs. Jones gave a satisfied nod.

"Alright. I hope we do find them soon, we need all three of them badly, Germany just checked in; they've been given the same demands as us and America. If we don't get all three of them back soon, we'll be facing an unparalleled disaster!"

Alan Blunt frowned and nodded.

"I know, but we can only do so much."

Mrs. Jones glanced at her superior gravely.

"I just hope it'll be enough."

* * *

Jack Starbright was just washing up her lunch when both the phone and doorbell rang at the same time. For a minute, she was torn, glancing between the front door and the ringing phone. Then, she shook her head and walked to the door.

"They'll call back if it's important." She muttered to herself.

Then, there was a knock at the door followed by a shout.

"Jack, it's me!"

Jack froze, she knew Alex's voice when she heard it, but he was meant to be in Poland! Confused, but happy, she ran the rest of the way to the door. She pulled it open energetically, and said with a huge smile,

"Alex!"

Then, she stopped dead; there were three people on the doorstep. One of them was Alex, but she had no clue who the blonde girl or the man who looked like he was extremely pissed off was. She did know however, they were bad news.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked confused, instinctively taking a step back when the man frowned at her. The guy was scary, Jack noticed the butt of a gun sticking out from the waistband of his jeans. She immediately started panicking and looked at Alex with wide eyes.

"What's going on Alex?!" She asked tersely, "Why aren't you in Poland?"

Alex looked unhappy, shooting a malevolent look in the girl's direction. She just hissed at him and gestured to Jack.

"Can we come in?" Alex asked hesitantly, looking around nervously. Jack felt suspicion awake inside her.

"No! Who are the other two and why is that man armed?!" She demanded, a little shrill from fear.

Alex didn't answer, but the deeply unhappy expression on his face told Jack that things were about to get ugly. She started as the man gave an annoyed grunt and drew his gun. She froze in shock, staring at the ugly weapon that was now pointed at Alex.

"Can we come in, please?" The man asked, managing to sound annoyed and bored at the same time. Jack noticed he spoke with a slight Russian accent.

Transfixed by the horror of the gun, Jack nodded once and stood aside as the three others walked inside quickly. Fear quickly becoming replaced by anger, she followed them in, slamming the door shut behind her.

* * *

Alex was upset, he hadn't wanted to come back here and bring Jack into all this, but he had no choice; if he, Yassen and Erin were going to escape MI6, they were going to need money. Since they could hardly hold up a bank, this meant going to Alex's house and getting cash from there. Unfortunately, this also meant getting Jack involved; something he was unwilling to do.

So, it was with a bad mood he stepped indoors, wincing at the door slammed shut behind him. Erin glanced at him uncertainly, she looked away however as Jack stormed up to Alex.

"Well?!" She demanded, "Would you please explain what's going on?!"

Alex bit his bottom lip and started to reply, but Yassen glanced at him and spoke first.

"We will only stay briefly." He said, "The three of us are in need of money, and this is the only place we can get it."

Jack just glared at Yassen and turned back to Alex.

"Could you _please_ just at least tell me who these people _are_?" She begged, sounding a little desperate.

Alex glanced at Yassen; the Russian looked uncomfortable but gave a nod anyway. Sighing reluctantly, Alex gave in.

"Okay," He said pointing to Erin, "She is Erin."

Recognition flickered in Jack's eyes.

"You're the one that attacked Alex and was carrying a sniper rifle in your bag?" She asked, looking a little angry.

Erin nodded nonchalantly.

"Yup!" She chirped, nodding happily.

Jack's expression darkened, but she didn't comment. She just turned to face Yassen and shot a glare in Alex's direction.

"And who the hell is he?" She asked, making Alex wince and Yassen smile in amusement. Alex shook his head, most people were terrified into silence by the Russian's presence, but Jack was doing the opposite.

"Um, he's Erin's Father." He attempted weakly, ignoring the way Erin rolled her eyes.

Jack didn't look impressed; she just narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.

"That's _really_ descriptive." She grunted sarcastically.

Alex felt his patience ebbing a little, but he swallowed his temper; he almost never fought with Jack and he wasn't going to let Yassen being there change that.

"He is Yassen Gregorovich." Alex said slowly, "He, Erin and I are trying to get away from MI6."

Jack looked like she was going either explode, or pass out. Maybe both.

"You're the man who killed Ian Rider!" She snarled, pointing angrily at Yassen. The Russian's expression of amusement didn't diminish.

"Amongst others, yes." He agreed, raising a brow as Jack glared at him.

"You're the reason that Alex has been put through all this in the first place!" Jack snapped, "Why the hell should I help _you_?!"

Yassen looked like he was tempted to roll his eyes.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to resort to such crude methods of persuasion…"The Russian muttered. Then, he shook his head and faced Jack.

"If you don't cooperate, I will hurt you _and_ Alex. Okay?" Yassen asked, sounding bored again.

Jack's mouth had fallen open, but she shut it quickly.

"You wouldn't!" She exclaimed, looking a little pale.

Alex shook his head in disbelief; she obviously hadn't listened to his descriptions of Yassen if she was under the impression that the Russian would hesitate in injuring them.

"Jack?" He interrupted, "Yassen will do what he says he will, the guy broke my rib and ankle."

Jack looked like she was tempted to start screaming at both Alex and Yassen, but she did the smart thing and just stalked back into the kitchen. Erin and Alex exchanged a wary glance.

"They still hurt like hell by the way." Alex complained to Yassen, narrowing his eyes. The Russian just shrugged.

"Well, it made my point," He said, "By the way; you need to disconnect all the phones in the house."

Alex stared at Yassen in confusion.

"Um, why?" He asked, "Apart from Jack's mobile, there's only one in the house anyway."

"She may try to call for help," Yassen explained patiently, nodding in the kitchen's direction, "MI6 can't know where we are if we are going to escape successfully."

Alex sighed, but gave a nod; what the Russian said made sense. Feeling like the day could hardly get any worse, he slowly walked upstairs. As he reached the second floor he heard Erin shout.

"You have a widescreen TV?!?! AWESOME!!!"

The yell was followed by the sounds of explosions, gun shots and car tires screeching. Alex shook his head; Erin had found the movie channel. Great.

* * *

**See the little purple button down there...**

**Okay, here's a couple of Q's...**

**1) Say i HAD to kill one character off (not promising anything here, just have a couple of Red Dawn inspired ideas floating around...), who would you make it???**

**2) Who do you think is the most UNLIKELY IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE couple you could see from our cast of Alex Rider characters??? (ALive or dead) see, my friend and I came up with...Omg, i cant say, it'll give away part of the first short story I'm writing hahaha!!!!**

**3)Shall I bring Wolf back into the mix? **

**4)Are we looking forward to a scene where Erin comes face to face with two angry dobermanns??? (she's shit scared of dogs remember???)**

**Anywho, just a couple of questions for you to ponder and ANSWER...**

**TTFN from Vampassassin**


	31. Magic Carpet Ride

**Chapter 28, Magic Carpet Ride**

**Okiedokie, here's another chappie for you! Just so you know, I had to do a bit of research on London and motorcycles for this, so plz appreciate the effort! By the way, the BMW K 1200 S is actually a real bike, i freakin' LOVE it and want one soooooooo bad!!! check it out on google or something! Also, i realized i haven't been doing disclaimers sooo...**

**Disclaimer: I do not as such own Alex Rider or any associated characters. However, once Becky and I successfully kidnap Alex, i will be able to blackmail Anthony Horowitz into giving me all the rights to the series!!! Mwooohahahaha, dont evil plans give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside???**

Alex wasn't really sure how to properly disconnect the phone, so he just yanked its cord out of the wall. It came out easily, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Pursing his lips, he studied his handiwork; the phone's wire was crudely severed and he frowned, that was going to cost Jack a bit of money to replace. Then, he shrugged; he really couldn't worry about that right now.

Shaking his head, Alex put the phone back down on its table and walked quickly downstairs; he had a bad feeling about Yassen and Erin being here. Once he was in the living room, he saw why; Erin was sprawled out on the couch, watching an action movie. She'd found the bagged popcorn in the cupboard and it was split open; popcorn was pretty much all over the couch and floor. Erin still managed to scrape handfuls of the stuff up though and shove them in her mouth clumsily whilst she stared mesmerised at the TV screen. From what he could tell, some sort of action movie was playing.

Horrified, Alex looked around for Yassen; _surely_ he was supposed to exhibit _some_ sort of control over his daughter?! Looking around desperately, Alex caught sight of the Russian standing in the kitchen, presumably making sure Jack didn't try anything. Hesitantly, Alex walked over, glancing once more as Erin gave a whoop of delight as an alarm started wailing in the movie she was watching. Shaking his head, Alex turned to face Yassen. The Russian looked very uncomfortable and tensed every time Jack did something loud like slam a plate down (Alex noted that she was doing quite a lot of that).

"Please tell me we're not going to be here much longer!?" Alex begged, wincing as Erin muttered loudly about the popcorn going under the couch. Yassen didn't look impressed either; he gave Alex a look of grim annoyance.

"I don't intend to stay long at all." Yassen said, eyeing Jack suspiciously as she shot the laptop on the dinner table a longing glance. Alex gave a reluctant nod and walked to Jack. She pointedly ignored him as she scoured the dishes in the sink.

"Jack?" Alex tried cautiously, "You okay?"

Jack didn't halt the brutal scrubbing, but she replied.

"No I'm not okay!" She muttered tersely in a low voice, "You're running away from MI6 with your Uncle's murderer and his messy brat in tow, so no, I'm not okay!"

Alex bit his lip, half in regret that Jack had gotten involved in all this and half because he could just picture Erin's expression at being called a 'messy brat'. His expression must not have impressed Jack though, because she suddenly threw the well scrubbed plate down in the sink hard (causing Yassen to seemingly start, but Alex got the impression the Russian was just tense) and folded her arms angrily.

"Well I'm glad you're finding this funny!" Jack snarled, "Because I'm most definitely not!"

Alex quickly tried to placate her.

"No no, I agree!" He exclaimed, "It's not funny, but something else came to mind!"

Alex must have sounded convincing, because Jack backed off a little. Breathing out in relief, Alex glanced around the kitchen. He noticed the kettle was turned on.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" He asked weakly, ignoring the way Yassen's stare was boring holes in him. Jack raised a brow and a sarcastic expression crossed her face.

"I'll get it myself," She sniffed, "In fact, why don't I just get everyone a bloody cup of tea seeing as I'm expected to play the charming host?!"

Then, Jack turned and glared at Yassen.

"Unless that's not allowed of course?" She suggested grumpily, obviously daring Yassen to say it wasn't.

The Russian disappointed her though; he just grimaced at Alex and gave a hesitant nod.

"That's fine; just don't go near the laptop." Yassen muttered.

Jack gave a cantankerous grunt and started pulling cups out of the cupboards with much more force then what was strictly necessary. Once he was sure his guardian was sufficiently occupied, Alex approached Yassen.

"What's with the laptop?" He hissed, staring at the offending machine.

Yassen shrugged.

"She's transferring money into an online bank account I had set up in case of emergencies." The Russian explained nonchalantly, it's a fairly large transfer so it takes time."

Alex nodded slowly; feeling like the whole situation was slightly out of control.

"Alright…" He muttered, looking at Jack anxiously. Yassen noticed Alex's glance and grimaced.

"I know this is hardly ideal," The Russian said quietly, "But this won't work without money, and I can hardly walk into a bank."

Alex sighed, but gave a nod.

"I know, it's just that Jack is the only person I know who's…Normal…" He said, trying not to sound as miserable as he felt. Yassen shrugged.

"Like I said, it's hardly ideal. As soon as the money has been successfully transferred, we'll leave."

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but just then Jack cursed loudly. Startled, Alex sprung up to see what had happened. In tipping the kettle, Jack had poured boiling water all over her hand.

"Shit!" She yelped, dropping the kettle in pain. Startled, Alex hurried over.

"Okay, never mind making tea!" He said, "Go and fix your hand up!"

Jack grimaced mutinously, but gave a nod and headed upstairs, muttering under her breath the whole way. Releasing a breath, Alex turned to see Yassen watching him, looking mildly interested.

"What?!" Alex demanded, frustration making him ruder then he'd meant to be. Yassen raised a brow at Alex's tone, making him wince.

"Sorry, just annoyed." Alex muttered his healing ankle and rib giving a sudden throb.

Yassen smiled thinly, seeing the momentary trepidation at angering him in Alex's expression.

"You're afraid of me." The Russian said softly, the tiniest bit of sadness detectable in his blue eyes. Alex swallowed, but stared back.

"How can I not be?" Alex asked, "I have no reason what so ever to trust you, I seem to be missing memories of you appearing in my life meaning anything good. I guess there's no need to remind you that you've nearly killed me 3 times?"

Yassen pressed his lips together grimly.

"3 times?" He asked, politely incredulous, "How do you figure that?"

Alex shook his head.

"Hmm, firstly, you put me in a ring with an enraged bull-"

Yassen interrupted suddenly.

"It was either that or be shot in the head. I actually saved your life there." He argued, looking vaguely annoyed. Alex frowned but continued.

"Okay, what about the whole thing with Cray? Not only did Sabina and I nearly die on Air Force One, I don't seem to recall you stopping him from putting me in his video game. And why do I get the feeling you're the one who sent people out to kill me in Amsterdam? I don't see Cray coming up with that idea somehow…"

Now Yassen looked distinctly angry, and Alex noticed his rib and ankle began to ache. He wondered if it was a warning that he was pissing the Russian off too much.

"What happened on that plane is not my fault!" Yassen snapped, "In case you've forgotten, I wasn't in much position to do much with a bullet in my chest, an injury that still hasn't healed fully! All that happened because I _refused_ to shoot both you and your little girlfriend remember?! So if anyone should be angry about what happened on that plane, it should be me! I nearly died because I didn't kill the two of you, so don't try and tell me I should be remorseful for what happened on Air Force One!"

Alex opened his mouth, but shut it without speaking, a little surprised by the outburst from the normally emotionless Russian. Besides, Yassen had a fair point.

"But don't let my reasoning put you off," Yassen continued, an almost invisible smirk on his face, "What's your third near death experience that can be blamed on me?"

Alex narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"No, I'm not being yelled at again." He grunted, half genuinely upset, half annoyed that

Yassen was right.

The Russian's smirk grew in size.

"You never struck me as the pusillanimous type." Yassen noted.

Alex just stared in confusion.

"What the hell does that mean?" He asked, knowing that the Russian had deliberately worded his speech so he'd have no clue whether or not he was being insulted.

"Cowardly." Yassen replied.

Alex scowled.

"You're calling me a coward?" He asked, a little disbelievingly.

"Yes, I feel that's an ample description of you at present." Yassen said coolly, "You're not going to tell me what you were about to say because you're afraid of me? That's definitely cowardly."

Alex scowled, he knew the words were aimed to taunt him, but that didn't stop him from reacting.

"Fine! I was going to say that Scorpia nearly killing me could be seen as your fault." Alex said, half bracing himself.

Yassen pursed his lips thoughtfully, obviously mulling that idea over.

"Alright, I suppose that one you can hold against me." The Russian allowed. Alex raised a brow.

"Really?" He asked suspiciously, wondering if Yassen was merely humouring him.

"Yes." Yassen nodded, sounding a little wry, "After all, I was the one who told you to find them, and look how that turned out."

Alex smiled smugly, about to gloat that he'd won the argument (partly anyway) when Jack came stomping down the stairs and into the kitchen. She looked both bad tempered and nervous.

'_Probably the effect that Yassen has on most people.' _Alex thought ironically to himself.

"Is your hand better?" He asked, feeling bad for her. Jack looked up, startled.

"Oh, um, yeah, it's fine!" She half yelped, causing Yassen to look up from where he was checking the laptop. The Russian narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of Jack.

"You were gone awhile." Yassen noted.

Jack nodded, looking very panicky.

"Yes, the first aid kit took awhile to find, and the bandages even longer!" Jack was rambling now, even if she didn't realize it.

Yassen stood abruptly, and Alex suddenly felt panic stir inside him. Yassen approached Jack slowly, like a jungle cat and there was something dangerous in his eyes; a type of cold fire that made Jack take a step back.

"Your hands please?" Yassen asked Jack, voice eerily calm, but all the more threatening for it.

Jack stared at the Russian, obviously confused. Yassen didn't ask again, he yanked Jack's hand up and immediately Alex felt his mood sink. Jack's hand was fine, and it wasn't bandaged. She'd barely hurt herself, she'd gone upstairs for something over then first aid. Alex thought he knew what that something had been.

"How far away are they?" Yassen asked Jack, who backed up scared. Alex knew that Yassen was referring to MI6.

"They'll be here in less then five minutes." Jack whispered, nervously glancing at Alex. He shook his head, he wouldn't let Yassen hurt her, but he wasn't going to help her either.

"I thought you took care of all the phones?!" Yassen asked Alex, looking angry.

Jack must have thought that Alex was in danger, because she spoke up.

"I used my mobile!"

Alex winced, he'd completely forgotten about her mobile. He'd been to worried about getting downstairs and making sure that Erin didn't break anything. In the living room, the TV switched off and Erin came walking into the room; she knew straight away something was wrong. Yassen turned to her quickly.

"We've got less then five minutes, you and Alex need to go to the underground parking lot on the east edge of Hyde Park and wait for me there." The Russian said quickly, hurriedly sitting in front of the laptop. Alex noticed he'd drawn the Glock, and he knew Jack hadn't missed that either.

"What are you doing?" Erin asked nervously, glancing out the kitchen window, as if she expected to see armed soldiers come cascading into the house at any moment.

Yassen didn't look up as he answered.

"I need to finish this transfer off, it's still not finished. I'll be right behind you two, now go!"

Erin looked unhappy, but she gave a sharp nod and ran to the front door, Alex on her heels. Alex carefully, opened the front door, taking a quick look around before slipping out. He and Erin sprinted down the steps, eyes searching their surroundings for any danger.

"Where's the nearest tube station?" Erin asked, subconsciously gripping Alex's wrist nervously. Alex grimaced at the strength in her grip (she was leaving welts in his arm) but didn't pull himself free.

"Too far to walk, especially if we don't want to be seen." He answered worriedly, jogging down the street. Although he had no idea how they were going to get to Hyde Park, he knew that staying still was not a good idea. So, he kept going down the street, struggling to come up with a way to get to Hyde Park. Just then, Erin gave a cry.

"Alex, come over here!" She yelled, about five metres behind him. Curious, Alex jogged over to see what Erin was doing. She was standing in the street with a pleased expression on her face.

"I just found our ticket to Hyde Park." She chirped. Behind her, stood a carelessly parked BWM K 1200 S motor bike, restful like a sleeping beast. It was painted night black and was obviously well cared for; its body gleamed brightly in the late morning sun. Alex took one look at the still monster and shook his head.

"No fucking way!" He said bluntly, folding his arms across his chest stubbornly. Erin's face fell, but she still went over and hotwired the bike in less then half a minute.

"Come on, it's fast! It can go from zero to sixty in less then three seconds!" She whined, stroking the quietly growling bike. Alex was about to refuse again, when the sound of squealing tires filled the street. Alex turned around and saw two black jaguars skid to a halt outside his house. Panicking, Alex glanced at Erin. She was already on the bike, revving the engine. The motorcycle's engine snarled savagely, the sheer volume of it alerting the MI6 agents that spilled from the parked Jaguars. Alex barely gave them a chance to shout before he sprinted to the bike, jumping on. He held onto Erin for dear life, wondering whether being shot by the agents or crashing on the bike was a better way to go.

Alex didn't have long to wonder before Erin gunned the accelerator and the bike lunged forward, the sheer power of it shocking Alex. Erin gave a whoop of delight as she turned the bike around; speeding straight towards the agents who were standing in the middle of the street, with expressions of shock similar to the one Alex wore. The agents barely leapt out of the way in time before the bike reached them. Erin laughed at the way the bike went straight between the two Jaguars and out onto the busier road beyond.

As they swerved through busy traffic, slipping through miniscule gaps between slow vehicles, Alex became painfully aware that he and Erin were wearing no protective gear and they were going 100 miles per hour, too fast to do anything if Erin lost control. Terrified out of his brain, Alex called out.

"Erin! Can we slow down _please_?!" He begged, struggling to make himself heard over the engine, wind and wailing horns of the angry traffic around them. Erin smiled and shouted back, cutting in front of a large truck sharply, avoiding being smashed by its front fender by less then a metre.

"Can't, we've got company!" She shouted back, casually giving the finger to a van driver who had to brake suddenly to stop itself from slamming into them. Confused, Alex gingerly looked over his shoulder. He felt his heart in his throat when he saw the two Jaguars behind them. What was worse, they'd brought friends, there were three police motorcycles with them.

Whilst Alex had almost never been so scared in his life, Erin was in her element. She was aware that her driving meant that she and Alex were taunting death, but it didn't bother her. She had other things on her mind, like losing their pursuers for instance. Anyway, she felt in total control, the adrenalin rush of the speed sent a thrill through her system and she loved every second of it. Laughing out loud, Erin found the stereo and turned it on carelessly. Music boomed from the speaker, somehow making itself heard over the chaotic clamour of the chase.

"Oh my god!" She screeched, causing Alex to start and hold onto her even harder, "I freaking love this song!"

Feeling a little wild, Erin started screaming the song's lyrics out.

"_Why don't you come with me little girl on a magic carpet ride, you don't know what we can see, why don't you tell your dreams to me Fantasy will set you free!!!"_

Behind her, Alex gave a terrified groan and closed his eyes. It was official, Erin had lost it and he was riding with a suicidal lunatic.

**Love it, Hate it? Review it? Yes you will! **

**By the way, i still expect answers to the questions i asked from the previous chappie!!!**


	32. Rush Hour

**Chapter 29, Rush Hour**

****

**Herrow All!!! Here's another installment of my beloved fanfic for you! It's not very long, but that's coz i wanna have the big details in the next chappie and quite frankly, i'm feeling decisively lazy :p Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Alex Rider or any associated characters, but i'm working on it! The plan to kidnap Alex is taking some time...**

Alex wasn't sure how much longer he could go without either throwing up (violently) or having a heart attack. For the last ten minutes, Erin had swerved, twisted and careered through heavy London traffic with a mindless sort of abandon in an effort to lose their pursuers. No such luck, the two Jaguars were still hanging on doggedly and Alex was beginning to wonder if it was just his imagination, or could he see the passengers loading rifles in the chasing cars?

His answer came quickly as there was a deafening crack and one of the rear-view mirrors on the bike disappeared. Erin gave a howl of outrage when she saw the damage done to the beloved bike (Alex was sure she'd forgotten already that it was not actually hers).

"Bastards!" She shouted, raising one hand in a single fingered salute. Immediately, she regretted it when one lucky bullet found the side of her hand. Erin gave a pained shriek, and for a moment, the bike was out of control, staggering to the side, brushing against the side of a bus at 170 kilometres an hours. The sound of screeching metal filled Alex's ears, before he somehow managed to lean past Erin and grab the steering bars of the motorcycle. He only had a solid grip on them for a couple of seconds, but it was enough. The bike heaved itself back into a standing position and Erin gritted her teeth and shoved herself back in front.

"Thanks." She grunted through clenched teeth, gripping the steering bars tightly again. Alex just nodded queasily and went back to holding onto Erin. All around them, cars and buses skidded and swerved around them, whilst horns wailed and the sounds of shattering glass marked any drivers unlucky enough to crashing in their wake. Behind them, the Jaguar's drivers seemed to determined to end the chase, one way or another. The powerful cars accelerated, until they were less then five metres behind. Two more cracks punctuated the sound of the motorcycle's snarling engine, one bullet smashed into the road by the back wheel whilst another skimmed just over Alex's right shoulder.

In front, Erin's hand was seeping blood and it was coating the steering bar, making it difficult for her to keep a good grip. Struggling, Erin eased off the accelerator a little, and the bike fell back a little. Immediately, the two Jaguars began closing the gap, perhaps seeing the opportunity. Tentatively looking over his shoulder, Alex moaned when he saw a man leaning out of one of the car's windows with a machine gun in hand. Alex shouted in Erin's ear.

"Do something!!!"

Erin nodded tersely, and suddenly, the world tilted savagely. Alex was nearly thrown off the bike altogether as Erin took a corner hard and fast, the bike sloped close enough to the ground as it took the corner for Alex to have been able to touch the road with his fingers. Behind them, one Jaguar missed the turn and kept roaring ahead whilst the other only just took the corner. Suddenly, there was a seven metre gap between the bike and its pursuer. Alex gave a sigh of relief; things finally seemed to be going their way.

Or not. Erin had made a mistake in turning onto this street, it was less busy and completely straight, giving the Jaguar the advantage. The motorcycle's ability to take corners fast and slip between vehicles was suddenly useless and the Jaguar was making the gap between them smaller with every second. Just when Alex though that the Jaguar was going to run them down, Erin gave a hoot of delight.

"Yes, just what we need!" She cried, turning the bike sharply again.

Alex barely had time to make out a large red sign on the roadside (warning, bridge out, construction ahead), before the bike was suddenly rushing through a construction site, workers looked up from their tasks in amazement; staring at the odd sight of a speeding motorcycle being driven by a teenage girl. Then, the road sloped upwards abruptly, and Alex felt utter horror consume him.

Ahead, five workers were doing construction on an old bridge. The middle section had been removed, seemingly so the bridge supports could be reached. The gap looked huge, like an abyss ready to swallow them whole. It was this bridge that Erin was driving the bike along, towards the gap.

"Think I can make it?" Erin yelled back, sounding a little wild. Her face was covered in a huge grin and Alex resisted the urge to whimper out loud.

"For God's sake don't do it!!!" Alex begged out loud, eyes huge as the missing section loomed in front of them. The construction workers were all giving yells of warning and backing away terrified. Erin just laughed and gunned the accelerator, pushing the bike to its top speed. The engine started to sound strained and Alex prepared himself for a brutal impact against unyielding concrete.

It never came, Erin steered towards a loading ramp and suddenly, the bike was in mid air. The Thames River glittered below them and Erin's smile was enormous. Alex felt his stomach churn and he screamed in fear, sure that the motorcycle was going to plummet into the river and kill them both.

Then, Alex winced as the bike hit the other side of the bridge, Erin expertly compelling it forward. The pursuing Jaguar tried to follow, but it was too heavy; the car fell through the gap and dissolved into a massive fireball as it smashed into the bridge's concrete pylons below. Alex felt a surge of panic as he realized that in a way, he had just been responsible for the agents in the car's deaths. Then, he realized that wasn't true; the agents had been stupid to try and they should have known the risks.

Sighing in relief, Alex tapped Erin on the shoulder.

"How far are we from the parking lot?" He yelled, figuring that if they could survive a jump at 200 kilometres an hour, normal riding shouldn't be such a stressor.

Erin didn't answer; she merely took another sharp corner, slipped between two four wheel drives and zoomed down a ramp into a busy, underground parking lot. Alex barely had time to comment before Erin leapt off the bike and started fussing over it.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Alex slowly climbed off and had a look at what Erin was doing. She was stroking the spot where the rear-view mirror had been shot off.

"Poor thing," She said glumly, patting the bike like it was an injured animal, "Such a nice machine."

Somewhat incredulous, Alex pointed out the obvious.

"It's a bike." He said bluntly, raising a brow.

Erin scowled.

"It's not just any bike," She argued, "It's a BMW K 1200 S with awesome speed capabilities and-"

Alex cut in abruptly.

"Your hand!" He gasped, pointing to her right forearm which was coated in blood. Erin started and held her hand up for inspection.

"Bloody hell, how did that happen? I forget…" She wondered, observing the injured appendage like a mildly interesting TV show. Alex smirked.

"I think it happened when you non-verbally told the agents to fuck off." He said dryly, mimicking the hand motion.

Erin bit her bottom lip.

"Oh, I guess that wasn't very bright of me." She muttered, observing her hand again. This time, Erin grimaced and Alex noticed she was a little pale.

"Hindsight is such a wonderful thing." Alex sighed, taking Erin's hand. He did a quick examination, making faces at the way he got sticky blood on his hand. Luckily for Erin, the bullet had only just skimmed by, gouging out a wound in the fleshy part between her thumb and index finger. Still, it was bleeding profusely and needed to be attended to.

"By the way, what do we do now?" Alex asked, giving Erin's hand back, "We got away, but there's a good chance that the MI6 agents will get here before Yassen does."

Erin shrugged, looking around for something to wrap her hand in.

"Well, we'll have to prepare for that possibility, but we're not leaving. He said wait here, so that's what we're gonna do."

Alex wasn't impressed by this plan.

"Masterful as that strategy is, there's a few teeny little flaws in doing that." He argued, "Firstly, we don't even know if Yassen got out of the house okay; secondly, we have nowhere to hide if someone comes looking for us; thirdly…" Alex trailed off, noting Erin's raised brow and unimpressed expression.

"Thirdly?" She asked, crossing her arms crankily. Alex shrugged.

"Actually, I don't have a third thing." He said, sounding a little surprised. "But I think those two flaws are enough on their own, don't you?"

Erin glared for a couple of seconds, but she seemed to see Alex's point of view, because she gave a reluctant nod.

"Alright, you have a point." She admitted, tempted to punch Alex when she saw the smug look on his face. "However, I still think we should stay here. We were told to come here so we had somewhere to meet up, if we just wonder off, who knows what'll happen?"

Alex frowned, but he knew defeat when he saw it.

"Fine, we stay here. But can we do something about the bike?" He asked, "It's making me nervous the way it's in full sight. After your little bridge jumping stunt, it's hardly a covert method of transportation, everyone will be looking for this specific bike now."

Erin glanced at the motorcycle and gave a sigh.

"But it's so nice looking." She moaned, looking at the bike like it was made of gold. Alex shook his head, he'd never liked the idea of riding a motorcycle much, and doing so with Erin in control had put him off completely.

"Just get rid of it!" He ordered her, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Erin pouted, but obediently wheeled the bike over to where it was partially hidden behind a bit of wall that jutted out. She walked back to Alex and said,

"What now?"

Alex opened his mouth to answer, but just then, a dark blue car came into the parking lot. Alex and Erin quickly ducked down, peering between parked vehicles at the car. It was obvious from the way it slowly roved down the aisles in a grid pattern that its purpose in the lot wasn't innocent. Panicking slightly, Alex glanced at Erin.

"What now?" He hissed, shuffling further down the line of cars to keep hidden. Erin scowled.

"I just asked you that!" She hissed back, shuffling along with Alex. Then, she tensed.

"It's coming this way!" She whispered, pointing as the blue car turned slowly into their aisle. Eyes wide, she and Alex did the only thing they could; they each threw themselves under a car and lay on the grimy concrete ground as the dark blue car slowly drove by.

Alex knew it was pointless, but he instinctively held his breath as the car passed by slowly. For a moment, the car paused and Alex panicked slightly, but then it kept going without any further ado.

Lying on the cold, dirty concrete, Alex relaxed. He felt his heart rate settle down and he took a minute to just breathe. He was just about crawl out from under the car, when he suddenly heard a voice.

"Parking lots may not be the easiest place to hide in, but I would've thought that even you would be able to come up with something more creative then under a parked car!"

Panicking big time, Alex turned his head and felt his heart jump into his throat. He was face to face with the barrel of a gun.

**hehehe, cliffie my darlings!!!! **

**Okiedokie, here's the new questions for you to answer:**

**1)I'm definetly bringing the Wolf-inator back in, but should i continue to have him as the soldier guy hunting our runaway trio down, or should he connect with his inner good-guy and reluctantly help Alex/Erin/Yassen out???**

**2) I was thinking of having a scene where Erin gets poisoned by an assassin (MI6 puts a kill order on Alex/Erin/Yassen when they dont turn themselves in) and Yassen has a rare moment of fatherly worry for her. Question is, does Yassen decide to call paramedics (coz he doesnt carry a first aid kit that has the solution to every medical malady, DUH) and risk being caught, or does he decide not to? HAHA, a moral dilemma for a moral-less assassin!**

**3)is anyone interested in a sequel that takes place several years after this story??? If you want the semi-secret details, review or PM me!!!!**

**Anyway, TTFN from Vampassassin**


	33. Disclosure

**Chapter 30, Disclosure**

**Here's my new chappie update thingy!!! It may not be particularly action-ish or long, but it's because i think the secret thing revealed in this chappie makes up (partially at least) for that. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not (crosses fingers) own the Alex Rider series or any associated characters scowls I do however own Erin! -Erin marches up to me- "You dont own me, nobody does!" -Erin marches off- Hmmm, my character is rebelling...**

Alex's heart felt like it was about to burst, but then, he heard Erin giggling. Confused, Alex took a closer look at his assailant.

It was Yassen; the Russian was crouching by the car he was laying under, Glock casually level with Alex's head. Yassen had a small smile on his face.

Breathing out in relief, Alex squirmed out from under the car. Yassen backed off to give him room.

"Holy shit, I nearly had a heart attack!" Alex complained, feeling his pulse settle down. Yassen just smirked.

"You deserved it," The Russian said, helping Alex to his feet, "You should know that you _never_ choose a hiding spot where you can't escape quickly and have no way to defend yourself."

Alex scowled, and walked over to the car next to his and pulled Erin out from underneath.

"Well, we didn't have much time to do anything." He said shortly, annoyed because he knew the Russian was right; it'd been stupid to try and hide under a parked car.

Still smiling slightly, Yassen shrugged.

"Well, no harm done this time. Just try not to let it happen again."

Alex was seriously tempted to do something childish and stick his tongue out, but he resisted the urge and just helped Erin to her feet. Yassen immediately noted the wound on her hand.

"Bullet wound?" He asked, sounding vaguely concerned (Alex was impressed, 'vaguely concerned' was a lot of emotion for the Russian). Erin nodded slightly.

"Yes, but it only just skimmed me. Alex already checked it out; it just needs to be bandaged." She chirped, looking around interestedly. "By the way, why did you tell us to meet you here of all places?"

Yassen shrugged again.

"First place I thought of, I had to come here before." The Russian suddenly looked tense and Alex knew that Yassen had said something he hadn't intended to. Curious, Alex jumped on that tiny scrap of information.

"What did you have to come here for?" Alex asked, trying to sound innocently curious. Yassen shot him a sharp look.

"Nice try, but you're as transparent as glass." The Russian said dryly, motioning for Alex and Erin to follow him.

Alex did so, determined to get some answers.

"Okay fine, just tell me why you were here before. Who pissed off your employer so badly that they needed to be given the good news with a bullet?" Alex asked, a little shocked at how curious he was. Yassen shook his head in mock despair and glanced at him over his shoulder.

"This may surprise you, but not everything I do involves shooting someone." The Russian informed Alex, sounding half annoyed and half wry.

Alex decided that his curiosity might get rewarded if he kept up his ignorant façade.

"Oh, so no one got shot?" He asked, trying to ignore the way Erin was shooting him knowing looks.

In front of Alex, Yassen shook his head and looked mildly abashed.

"Okay, someone _did_ get shot. I didn't do it though." The Russian said, leading the way to the parking lot's entrance.

Alex smirked.

"First time for everything."

Erin smiled at this, but quickly his her smile behind her hand when Yassen glanced over at her.

"Your complete inability to keep your self-endangering remarks to yourself will be your undoing." Yassen said to Alex, sounding a little annoyed.

Alex shrugged.

"With the way my life's turning out, I'm actually thinking it'll be a bullet that'll be my undoing." He countered, "But never mind that, who got shot and if you didn't do it, why were you here?"

Yassen didn't answer straight away; the Russian had stopped in front of a car. It was the same dark blue one from before. It was a Lexus, and a nice one at that. With a start, Alex realized it was Jack's car.

"You stole that from my house?" Alex asked, not sure how annoyed to be. Yassen shrugged.

"I prefer the term 'borrowed'. I'll leave it somewhere where it'll be found easily when we're done with it."

Alex smirked, but got didn't argue further. For a couple of moments, he engaged in a silent battle with Erin over who got to sit in the front (Erin lost, to Alex's enormous satisfaction). Once he was comfortably seated and belted in, Alex turned back to asking questions.

"Well? Who needed shooting and why were you involved it you weren't doing the actual shooting?" Alex asked Yassen, sure that if he just annoyed the Russian enough, he'd get results.

'_Either that or end up with more broken bones.'_ A little voice in Alex's mind remarked snidely.

Alex cast that delinquent thought aside and waited for an answer. To his surprise, he actually got one. Sort of.

"Alex, you don't like me already." Yassen said slowly. Alex snorted.

"I think that's the understatement of the year." He said sarcastically, "But go on?"

Yassen grimaced but did so.

"You don't trust me, and I'm going to need you to do just that if this escape thing is going to work. Telling you what you want to know will only make things worse."

Alex felt unease stir and he wondered how badly we wanted to know. If Yassen was bothering to warn him, he had to be hiding something pretty bad. But then, his stubborn streak won; he knew that if he didn't find out now, he wouldn't ever be able to get it out of Yassen again.

"Tell me." Alex said, bracing himself for the worst.

Yassen started the car up and drove out of the parking lot quickly. The Russian smiled humourlessly.

"You really don't like to be kept in the dark, do you?" He asked. Alex didn't answer, it was a rhetorical question. Then, Yassen spoke again.

"I was paying the man who shot you."

* * *

Alex felt his heart skip a beat. He was sure he'd heard wrong.

"You…But…What?" Words wouldn't come properly to him, and Alex shook himself.

Yassen didn't look away from the road as he answered.

"The man who shot you did not in fact work only for Scorpia, he undertook some work for me when I didn't have the time to attend to jobs myself. I paid him to do the hit on you."

Alex suddenly regained control of his speech, words started coming from his mouth before he really had time to think about them.

"Why?! Why would you do that?! I thought you didn't kill children?! I thought you actually cared about me?!" Alex stopped to draw breath; he was surprised to discover he was panicking. Yassen grimaced again.

"You don't understand, it wasn't-"

Alex cut in abruptly.

"No I don't understand! Why would you pay someone to try and kill me?!" He shouted, well and truly panicking.

Yassen pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he was half annoyed, half upset.

"Let me explain," The Russian said slowly. Alex gave a non-committal grunt, but didn't argue.

"Scorpia doesn't like to lose," Yassen said, "And being beaten by a 14 year old was a blow that they were never going to accept. It was a unanimous decision to have you killed, they decided that a car bomb would kill you and Jack as well, it was a plan that couldn't fail to work."

Alex frowned.

"What happened then, why did I end up getting shot instead?" He asked, very confused.

Yassen seemed to measure his next words carefully.

"Officially, I didn't work for Scorpia anymore, but I had a source in the organization. I found out about the plan to kill you, and I knew straight away that if I did nothing, you would be killed for sure."

Alex tried to make sense of what was being said.

"So why didn't you just warn me or something?" He asked.

Yassen shook his head.

"Scorpia was prepared for the possibility that someone would try to either warn you or tamper with their assassination. The only way I could ensure your survival was to have you 'die' on my terms. In this case, it meant that I offered to find a man for the job. No one knew that I had an ulterior motive, so they said that was a good idea. I contacted a man who Scorpia trusted, but who was actually loyal to me. I told him that this had to look like you were going to die, it had to be genuinely life threatening. If it wasn't, all three of us would have all been killed."

In the back, Erin was listening intently as well. Alex glanced at her in the rear-view mirror, and then swallowed. He wasn't altogether surprised to discover that he was furious.

"Do you even have any idea how close I came to winding up dead?!" Alex snapped, feeling the old sniper wound give a twinge. He rubbed his chest subconsciously.

Yassen raised a brow at that.

"Why do you keep doing that?" The Russian asked.

Alex scowled.

"Being shot in the chest is the sort of injury that tends to have lingering effects." He growled. To his surprise, Yassen looked surprised.

"My contact was told to shoot you in the stomach, it's an injury that's life threatening, but it's not an instantaneous, it usually takes twenty minutes for death. You shouldn't have been shot in the chest, I wouldn't have played around with your shots of surviving that much!"

Alex took his hand away from his chest slowly and frowned at the Russian.

"Well, I definitely got shot in the chest, not the stomach; the only reason I survived is because the bullet missed my heart by mere centimetres!"

Yassen looked unhappy.

"Maybe my contact wasn't as reliable as I'd thought." He mused out loud. Then, he glanced at Alex.

"And it still hurts?" Yassen asked. Alex shrugged.

"Not all the time, just every now and then. The doctors said the physical therapy got rid of the pain, but it still aches sometimes."

Yassen raised a brow.

"How long did the physical therapy go for?" He asked, sounding disinterested, prompting Alex to think he was only asking because he wanted to avoid discussing his part in the shooting.

Alex had to think back to answer that.

"Umm, like two or three weeks?" He said, trying to remember.

To his surprise, Yassen shot him a sharp look. To his even greater surprise, the Russian pulled the car off the road and parked on the side of the street. Erin glanced between Alex and her Father, looking tense.

"Two or three weeks?!" Yassen asked, sounding half incredulous, half disgusted, "Only two or three _weeks_?!"

Alex immediately wished he'd just answered 'I dunno'. He didn't like people worrying over him, least of all a man who he disliked intensely.

"I guess," Alex shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, "It might have been a little less-"

Alex quickly trailed off when he caught the expression on Yassen's face.

"Or more!" Alex declared desperately, sounding a little squeaky, "A little less _or_ more!"

Yassen's stormy expression didn't lift though.

"Alex, yours is not the sort of injury that goes and fixes itself!" The Russian shook his head disgustedly, "And it doesn't just disappear either, I can tell you now without any doubt that you'll have some sort of damage that hasn't healed!"

Alex felt his temper raise a few notches.

"Look, if I needed further attention, MI6 would have told me!" He argued. Yassen laughed humourlessly.

"You can't honestly think that MI6 give a shit what happens to you?" Yassen asked sarcastically. Alex started; he'd never heard the Russian swear before. Itgot his attention more then anything else.

"Well, maybe they don't, but surely they wouldn't just let me stay injured?" He asked uncertainly. In the back seat, Erin laughed bitterly. Alex jumped; he'd forgotten she was back there.

"Dude, these are people who are happy for you to face murderous thugs on your own and for me to go shoot a Chinese diplomat in cold blood, duh they'd have no problem leaving you injured." She said, looking amused by Alex's apparent naïveté.

Alex scowled, and turned back to Yassen. The Russian looked grim, but had apparently decided against arguing further. Yassen looked over at Erin with a trace of thoughtfulness on his face.

"Speaking of medical treatment, you'll be doing some physical therapy whilst I have anything to say about it." He told Erin firmly. Then, Yassen glanced at Alex. "You too!"

Alex grimaced but didn't say anything; he just stared out the window as Yassen drove back out onto the road.

"By the way, don't think this means I'll be going easy on you," The Russian said suddenly, "You're still an annoying brat, but if I have to come to your aid suddenly in the middle of a crisis, I'll put you in more pain then any sniper could!"

As if to underline the assassin's threat, Alex felt his semi-healed ankle and rib give a faint throb.

Alex gave a quiet sigh; he always seemed to end up with such polite people.

* * *

Half an hour later, Alex felt the need to break the tense silence that had engulfed the car.

"What happened at my house?" He asked curiously, "What happened to Jack?"

Yassen smirked to himself.

"Erin's little stunt on the motorcycle meant that every agent went after you two, I had enough time to finish the online transfer. Once I was done, I attempted to leave."

Alex raised a brow.

"'Attempted'?" He quoted, not sure how to take the amused look on Yassen's face. The Russian's smirk grew.

"Your housekeeper felt the need to stop me from leaving, using a kitchen knife and a heavy pot."

Alex groaned and covered his face with one hand.

"Jack!" He groaned, shaking his head. Then, he looked up again. "You didn't hurt her, did you?" Alex asked suspiciously, not putting it past the Russian.

Yassen just laughed at Alex's expression and shook his head.

"No, I didn't have any need to. I disarmed her and took my leave."

Alex wasn't convinced; he narrowed his eyes and glared at the Russian.

"And that's all that happened?" He asked suspiciously.

A tiny smirk pulled at the corners of the Russian's lips and Alex felt a slight sinking feeling.

"What did you do?" He sighed, not sure how badly he wanted to know.

"I felt it would have looked like she'd just let us go if Jack was to be found conscious, so I took the liberty of changing that."

Alex sighed again, but didn't remark on it. He had a slightly more important matter on his mind.

"I feel I should have asked before, where are we going?" He asked, not recognising their surroundings. They were in a very different part of town; the street was crowded with a mix between what looked like clothing shops, nightclubs and pubs. The whole thing was not as upscale as central London; in fact, the street had a faintly sleazy air to it. Alex wondered why Yassen had brought them here.

"I need to visit someone." Yassen said cryptically, pulling over. Puzzled, Alex and Erin climbed out of the car and followed the Russian down the crowded street. It was only early after noon, but everywhere was packed, even the clubs and bars. The crowds spilled out onto the paths as well, but Yassen slipped between groups of people easily, leaving Alex to squeeze awkwardly through intent shoppers and raucous drinkers.

Annoyed, Alex doubled his speed, catching up to Yassen and Erin in time to catch a snippet of conversation.

"Why here? Why Michael? You know he's not to be trusted, what if he sells us out to MI6 or worse, Hienler?" Erin hissed, looking very unhappy.

Yassen glanced at his daughter briefly.

"You know as well as I do he'd never do anything for MI6, not after what happened to his family. Also, I have leverage that'll stop him from going to Hienler." The Russian answered. Then, Yassen caught sight of Alex discreetly eavesdropping and the Russian shot a look at Erin that told her to stay silent. Alex wasn't impressed.

"Don't mind me; I'm just along for the ride after all." He muttered to himself. Alex wasn't that annoyed though, he was trying to think where he'd heard the name 'Hienler' before. His memory was coming up blank, so Alex just concentrated on following Yassen.

The Russian paused in front of a grimy looking apartment building. The front door had a lock on it, but it was broken and the door was left open. Alex could just see a dim hallway leading to a flight of stairs inside. There was graffiti all over the stairwell and walls. Alex glanced at Yassen.

"Nice place." He muttered, eyeing the dirty looking building with distaste. Yassen smiled in amusement.

"Well, a luxury five star penthouse would hardly be covert, would it?" The Russian asked (rhetorically of course).

Alex just shook his head and followed Yassen and Erin into the building. He was still too pissed off about the whole 'Yassen paying someone to shoot him' thing to bother with idle conversation.

* * *

**oi! Dont pretend to be blind with me! I KNOW you can see that pretty little blue review button down there!!!**


	34. Michael Markell

**Chapter 31, Michael Markell**

**Hello All! Thanks once more for reviewing and such!!! Here are a couple of notes for you:**

**Alex and Erin will DEFINETLY be developing a closer relationship in the near future, so people complaining about their lack of closeness and general huggyness can stop whining :p**

**Just a note, Hienler is pronounced as such: Hee-yen-lerr not: Highn-la**

**Also, I get to rub this in everyone's face: hahaha, Snakehead is out in Australia! I read it and it was awesome!!!! Don't worry tho; I'll wait till it's out everywhere else till I include spoilers.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mine? -ducks as Anthony Horowitz throws a heavy rock- No no no! It's not mine...**

**But it will be -evil smile-**

* * *

Walking quickly up the staircase, Alex was still trying to think where'd he heard or seen the name 'Hienler' before. All he could remember was that the name had appeared recently, and he was sure that the name had meant something to him at the time. Now, it was just a name that picked annoyingly at the edges of his memory.

Shaking himself, Alex asked Yassen a question.

"Who are you…we...visiting?"

Yassen raised a brow at Alex's uncertain speech.

"We're visiting a man named Michael Markell." The Russian said, pausing at the doorway to the third floor. He lead the way through, into a dimly lit hallway accented with dirty grey carpeting and faded peach walls.

"Nice name." Alex smirked, waiting as Yassen knocked lightly at a door labelled with the number ''36' in tarnished brass. Yassen smiled at Alex's amusement.

"It certainly rolls off the tongue." The Russian agreed, "But don't let his name or appearance fool you, the man has a keen intellect and makes even my self-centred habits look like generous acts of charity. The man is driven by an enormous amount of greed and-"

Before Yassen could go on, the door swung open silently. There was no one in the doorway.

"Remote controlled," Erin explained to Alex, "The man's a technology nerd."

Yassen shot Erin a sharp look as they walked into the apartment, but Alex was sure he saw the corners of the Russian's mouth twitch into a smile.

Inside, the apartment was much more luxurious and clean then the rest of the building would have suggested. It was dark; surprisingly the curtains were shut despite the sunny day outside. However, Alex could see in the dim light that crept through the curtains that the apartment was tastefully (and expensively) decorated in dark woods and antique furniture. Except for the kitchen and living room, they were assertively modern, with stainless steel and glass being the special of the day.

Alex barely had time to appreciate the apartment before there was a voice.

"Gregorovich?! I heard a rumour you were dead."

Alex spun around alarmed; Yassen was standing in the middle of the room looking completely at ease whilst the indistinct figure of another man stood hidden by a bookshelf with a gun in hand.

"You heard wrong Michael, you can see I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way, so would you be so kind as to remove the weapon from your hand?" Yassen said, sounding cool and collected.

The other man gave a short laugh and did so, coming forward and into sight for the first time.

Alex's first thought was that the man looked a lot like a hyena. It was his second thought as well.

Michael Markell was not especially tall, but something about the way he moved alerted you to the fact he was dangerous; much like Yassen. He was bulkier however then the Russian, Alex got the impression he'd been military or navy at some point, the man's thickly muscled body attested to that.

However, whilst Yassen was sleek and graceful, Michael Markell was lumbering and didn't so much walk forward as lunge towards something. He walked with an almost imperceptible limp and when he smiled, it was a faintly fearsome action and (as he was at the moment) Alex half expected to see a mouth full of yellow, jagged teeth. Instead, there were only even white ones. Also, the man was older then Yassen, he looked to be in forties or maybe even his fifties. Michael's hair was an odd mix of gray, dirt brown and black. All this coupled with the man's tawny skin only helped to strengthen Alex's initial impression of a hyena or wild dog. His voice was growl, much like a wild animal's as well.

"I don't hear wrong. Ever." Michael was saying, lowering his gun and limping to the middle of the room.

He shook hands briefly with Yassen, and Alex relaxed. As much as he was loathe to admit it, if the Russian trusted the man, so did he. However, at his quite exhalation, Michael's head shot up and seemed to notice Alex and Erin for the first time. He didn't seem impressed. The man started shooting off to Yassen in angry sounding French.

(1)"Qu'est-ce qui est cela ?! Pourquoi avez-vous apporté aux enfants ici ?! Ne moi dites pas que vous êtes partis mous dans votre vieillesse ? Ce n'est pas un centre de jour-"

Yassen held up a hand and cut in smoothly. Alex noticed an annoyed frown on the Russian's face, and wondered who was brave or foolish enough to speak to Yassen in such a manner.

(2)"Quelle vieillesse ? Vous n'êtes dans aucune position pour m'appeler tel, vous vous êtes permis d'aller vous ne pensez pas ? En plus j'avais peu de choix dans le fait de leur apporter ici. Vous savez aussi bien que je fais ce départ Erin à ses propres artifices est une notion téméraire. En tout cas, j'ai cru que peut-être il chronomètre devait lui montrer exactement que son Père passe une grande partie de son temps en faisant ?"

Yassen spoke quickly, and Alex noticed that the Russian's French was completely accent-less, like the man's English.

It had been awhile since Alex had spoken French, but he knew the basic gist of what was being said. He also noticed that the last part of what Yassen said was done so in jest. Michael gave a reluctantly amused grunt, but his eyes were still unfriendly when they were turned onto Alex and Erin.

"Maybe," Michael Markell agreed, "Still keen on following in your Father's footsteps then?"

That last sentence was addressed to Erin, and she knew it. The blonde girl smiled coolly at the dog-like man.

"Hello Michael, I thought for a moment you'd forgotten who I was." She answered, looking at Michael with disdain. Alex noticed the way the girl avoided the question being asked.

The man gave a wheezy cough of a laugh. It was a sarcastic sound and Erin knew it.

"Impolite as always." Markell noted, turning to face Alex. The man glanced at Yassen curiously.

"Who's this?" The man asked bluntly, in a cold voice, "I was under the impression that one child was more then enough for you?"

Alex met Michael's gaze evenly.

"John Rider was my Father." Alex said slowly, not sure what to make of Yassen's expression.

Markell's eyes lit up with recognition at the name.

"Rider? Yes I met him once, working for Scorpia on something. We didn't get along particularly well."

Alex frowned at that. He started to say that John Rider had actually been an MI6 agent in deep cover, but Yassen shot him a discreet warning glance. Puzzled, Alex closed his mouth.

"I don't suppose you know what he was doing?" Markell asked Yassen, eyes covetous and inquisitive. Alex suddenly understood what Yassen had meant when he'd said Michael Markell was greedy; the man wanted it all, wealth, power and knowledge. Alex wondered why Yassen needed to visit him.

"Even if I did, you know I wouldn't say anything." Yassen admonished, "I'd have a ten thousand dollar bounty on my head if Scorpia found out I was telling their secrets to the likes of you."

Markell gave a grump grunt, but didn't push the matter.

"Fine, what is so important you need to return from the dead to see the 'likes of me'?" The man asked, getting down to business.

Yassen seemed to measure his words very carefully before speaking.

"I recently made a large transfer into a Swiss account I set up for emergencies. However, I am currently being pursued by the sort of people who would possibly know if anything was withdrawn from that account."

Michael Markell didn't reply immediately, he merely reached into a pocket and withdrew two small items. There was a tiny click and suddenly, the man was smoking a Cuban Cigar. He paused when he saw the look on Yassen's face. The Russian was glaring at him.

"You know I do not like the smell of cigar smoke, put it out." Yassen said coldly, distaste written all over his face.

Markell scowled and muttered something ugly in French, but it seemed that he didn't dare defy the Russian. The man grumpily crushed the cigar against a crystal ashtray sitting on a low coffee table.

"Alright, you say you need to make a withdrawal that could be tracked. What has that got to do with me?" Michael asked, sounding suspicious.

"You know as well as I do what I need you to do. I know that you've been doing untraceable work in accounts for years now, I'm asking for you to withdraw the money I transferred, but make it look like it's all still there. Also, I know you have some of my old documents from when I was last here, I'd like them back. I hope for your sake you haven't sold them?" Yassen's tone turned threatening when he suggested that possibility.

Michael gave a grimace.

"No I haven't sold them!" He growled, "I had a feeling that Cray hadn't been successful in his attempt to off you, I kept them just in case you turned up in the middle of the might or something."

Yassen raised a brow.

"You're a liar." The Russian said good humouredly, "You thought I was dead like everyone else, I heard you were celebrating because it meant you didn't have to pay back the money you owed me. The only reason you kept my documents was because you'd would've been too scared not to."

Markell scowled, but didn't deny it.

"Well, I still have them and that's what counts." He grunted, glancing at his extinguished cigar regretfully.

"And what of the other work?" Yassen pressed, "Are you able to do that as well?"

Michael took his time considering, which seemed to annoy Erin. She gave an annoyed hiss and Alex glanced over at her. He got the distinct impression she detested the man and didn't like wasting time in his presence.

"You know I don't do things for free." Markell said eventually, a greedy smirk twisting his thick lips. Yassen frowned at that.

"If I recall correctly, you owe me a debt; your very life specifically. I would have thought that that would pay for any fees?" The Russian said. Alex noticed that Yassen's hand was lightly resting where the Glock was concealed. Markell was distracted and didn't notice.

"A pity you didn't do a better job, then it would be my wife and son's lives that were in debt to you as well." Michael said heavily, "My life is nothing compared to their's. So no, it doesn't pay for the fees."

Yassen pressed his lips together grimly.

"You know I don't have any sort of money at present." He said coldly, hand discreetly wrapping around the hidden Glock.

Michael shrugged.

"I can't do anything for any less then ten thousand American."

Yassen seemed to relax; Alex noticed he took his hand away from the gun.

"I can give you the location of a brand new motorcycle, an expensive one. It would have to be worth something, wouldn't it?" The Russian asked, ignoring the horrified look on Erin's face. Markell noticed the girl's expression however. An ugly smile flickered across his face.

"I'll take it, not because it's fair payment, but because I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of how much this is pissing your daughter off." He laughed shortly. Erin just glared at him, but she knew enough not to argue. Yassen saw the mutinous look on his daughter's face though and saw the ugly, selfish expression on Markell's. The Russian frowned disgustedly, but merely said,

"I need this done now."

Michael smirked, but didn't say anything. He merely walked over to the kitchen, picking up a laptop that had been sitting on the granite counter. The man limped over to an armchair sitting in front of the TV and quickly began tapping away at it. Yassen walked over and watched Markell's progress over his shoulder.

Bored, Alex glanced at Erin. The blonde girl looked despondent, and Alex had to bite back a laugh; she was sulking over the motorcycle. Suddenly, Markell spoke up, making Erin jump.

"You're bleeding."

"Still?" Erin asked, glancing at her hand. Indeed she was, although the flow of blood had slowed. A couple of crimson droplets fell from her fingertips, splattering against the polished wooden floor. Yassen frowned and left Michael to come have a look at Erin.

"Didn't you bandage it?" He asked, analysing the wound carefully.

Erin shrugged.

"There was nothing to work as bandages." She said, "Should it have stopped bleeding by now?"

Alex suddenly remembered something.

"There's a first aid kit under one of the seat's in the car, didn't you see it?"

Erin shook her head.

"No, it's your car, how was I to know?"

Alex wasn't sure whether or not he felt like arguing the point, but he didn't get the chance. Yassen's frown had deepened.

"Flex your hand and fingers." He told Erin, blue eyes looking faintly concerned.

Frowning as well (When she did so, Alex was struck by how much she looked like her Father), Erin curled her hand into a fist. Or tried to at least. As Erin moved her fingers, she gave a sharp exclamation of pain. Yassen pressed his lips together, looking both annoyed and worried.

"There might be more damage done then what I'd initially assumed." The Russian said matter-of-factly, "It should have stopped bleeding by now, but it hasn't. I think that maybe some blood vessels were severed, and maybe there's been tissue damage as well."

Michael Markell spoke.

"There's a first aid kit under the sink." He grunted, not looking up from the laptop.

Alex glanced at Yassen; the Russian gave a distracted nod as he went back to studying Erin's bullet wound.

Alex sighed and walked the short distance to the kitchen. Everything was clean and expensive, but from Alex knew about Michael Markell, that was to be expected. Looking around, he saw the sink and more importantly, the cupboard beneath it. Pulling it open, there were a couple of white plastic shelves. There was a clear plastic box on the top shelf. Alex pulled it out.

Setting it on the granite countertop, he opened the plastic claps and looked inside. The box had three folding compartments, a top, middle and bottom one. Not sure where the bandages would be, Alex unfolded all of the compartments. The top one just had bandaids, painkillers and the such. The middle had other medications, but Alex didn't look there; the less he knew about Michael Markell, the happier he'd be. In the bigger bottom compartment, Alex saw the edge of a roll of bandages. Satisfied, he reached the grab them, but to do so, he had to push a small box out of the way.

Alex pushed the box a little too hard, and it fell onto the countertop with a quiet clatter. Alex started when he saw what fell out.

Three small plastic baggies each filled with a white powder and a needle. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were, even without the tiny glass mirror coated in powdery residue.

Alex figured he shouldn't be surprised, the man was obviously a thug and who knew what sort of habits he had? The fact that the man was on drugs wasn't what worried Alex; the fact that they were depending on this man, who could easily be unreliable was what worried Alex. So, wordlessly, he gathered everything back up, put it all back in the first aid box and carried it over to Yassen.

The Russian looked up curiously when Alex approached.

"I only need bandages and maybe some anti-septic Alex." Yassen said. Then, Alex showed him the bags and needle. The Russian's expression darkened a little.

"Interesting habits you've picked up." Yassen said out loud, balancing one of the bags in the palm of his hand. Michael looked up sharply and went very still when he saw the bag in Yassen's hand.

"What can I say, I like a glamorous lifestyle? Anyway, I like to have enough to share; maybe your daughter would be interested?" The loathsome man shrugged, obviously recovering well from his little cache being found. Yassen didn't respond, but there was a slight edge to the way he tossed the bag back into the box. The Russian pulled the roll of bandages out and returned to attending to Erin. Alex noticed that Erin cast a half curious, half confused expression at the drugs. Alex guessed she was happy to discover yet another thing to hold against a man who she so obviously detested.

For a couple of minutes, the apartment was engulfed in an uneasy silence, a quiet that no one seemed willing to break. Finally, Michael gave a sigh and pushed the laptop away from him.

"Well, I made the withdrawal; I just need to scan it to an ATM card."

Yassen didn't react, he continued working on Erin. Michael glanced at the Russian nervously, the assassin's silence seemed to scare the dog-like man more then any threatening would. Deciding not to repeat himself, Markell typed furiously for a couple more minutes and pushed a button on the laptop. A small, plastic card was ejected from one of the slots on the machine. Michael weighed in his hand for a minute, then tossed across the room.

Not looking up from where he was bandaging his daughter's hand, Yassen caught the card with his free hand. The Russian slid it into his pocket, finished with Erin and stood.

"What about my old documents?" Yassen asked bluntly, glancing at Erin as she gingerly poked at her damaged hand.

Michael Markell licked his lips and ran a hand through his shaggy hair.

"They're in the office, I'll be right back."

"We'll come with you." Yassen said, tone leaving no room for argument. Alex exchanged a worried look with Erin as the blonde girl stumbled as she walked forwards. Luckily, she caught herself on the coffee table before standing properly. They followed Michael down a short hallway and into a small room, just big enough for the mahogany desk, bookshelf and steel filing cabinet. Markell sat down at his desk, and using a key he'd produced, unlocked the bottom drawer.

Whilst the man was distracted by the task of rooting through the drawer, Alex saw Yassen's hand creep to the gun again. This time, the weapon was drawn. Eyes wide, Alex started to say something, but suddenly, he felt cold steel against the small of his back. Alex smiled bitterly; he'd forgotten Erin had a gun too. Bad mistake.

"Don't make a sound." Erin's hissed in his ear, "I won't kill you, but I will hurt you if I have to."

Sourly, Alex gave a sharp nod to show he understood. In front of him, Michael looked up from the drawer with an A4 envelope in hand. The man froze when he saw the stiff way Alex was standing and more importantly, the gun in Yassen's hand.

"What's going on?" Markell asked, voice hoarse and shaky, "I helped you and now you're going to shoot me?"

Yassen smiled.

There was just time for Alex to see the colour drain from Markell's face and his eyes widen before there was a single gunshot, deafening in the tiny room. Then, a thump as Michael Markell's body slumped forward onto the desk. Yassen fluidly lowered his aim, switched safety back on and took a step forward. He carelessly removed the envelope from the dead man's grip and moved back.

"Scorpia sends its regards." Yassen muttered, taking a look inside the envelope. The Russian seemed satisfied by the contents, because he smiled again and started to leave the room. He paused when he realized Alex wasn't following.

"Alex?"

Alex could hear his heart pounding, and he realized that he was frozen; still standing stiffly in the middle of the room. He'd seen countless people shot and killed as a spy, but it still disturbed him. The way Yassen did it was even scarier, the Russian seemingly needed no excuse to kill, and didn't even stress doing it.

Behind him, Yassen and Erin exchanged a look. Yassen took a step forward and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex jumped, and Yassen took his hand away.

"I'm not like either of you, I don't kill." Alex said quietly, still staring at the staring, dead face of Michael Markell. The man's torso was splayed across his desk; there was a pool of blood spreading across it. "I'm not used to death, to seeing people die and I never want to be."

For no particular reason, Yassen remembered the day he'd joined Scorpia, the day he'd known he was expected to be a cold blooded killer. Oddly enough, he'd been thinking the same things as what Alex was thinking now.

"I know you want to believe that," Yassen answered, "But whether or not you like it, you're a part of a world where killing is necessary to survive. If you want to survive, you're going to have to learn that sometimes you have no other choice."

Alex didn't reply, he just stared at the face of the dead man.

"Alex, we have to leave. The gunshot would have been heard, we need to leave before the police turn up." Erin said suddenly, "I know this has been…" Erin trailed off uncertainly, obviously not sure how to continue. She started again.

"Look, I know that you just want to take some time to cope with this, but you can't, not now anyway. We need to go, and now!"

For a second, both Yassen and Erin thought that Alex wouldn't move. But then, Alex took a breath and turned around. He looked grim, but determined.

"Alright, let's get out of here."

Erin smiled uncertainly, and Alex smiled back. The gesture was a little bitter, but it was a genuine smile never the less.

"We can't leave any trace of our presence." Yassen said, "I need to erase all the files from the laptop. Get ready to leave though, it won't take me long."

Erin nodded and she and Alex followed Yassen back into the main part of the apartment.

Alex was struck by the fact that now that Michael Markell was dead, the apartment now seemed cold and foreboding; no longer the tastefully decorated quarters of a living man. Alex smiled bitterly at his thoughts.

'_I'm walking through a dead man's house with his killer.'_

Whilst Yassen was busy with the laptop, Erin was hunting around the apartment for something. What, Alex didn't know. Not overly interested, he looked around aimlessly. He noticed a pile of papers laying on a nearby end table. Curiously, he picked them up. Scanning through the printed page, a specific line stuck out.

…_Liberty reports indicate that the Nuclear-Bio Synthesis is successful thus far and the appropriate contact has been made with multiple international agencies..._

Confused, Alex started to ask Yassen is he knew what the paper was saying, but Erin interrupted.

"Finally," She declared happily, "I was beginning to think Hollywood had lied to me."

Alex looked over at her in puzzlement.

"Huh?" He asked, walking over to her. Erin was standing in front of what looked like the fuse-box for the apartment. Instead of switched connected to the power however, there were several pipes that seemed to run through the apartment walls. Alex wasn't sure what Erin wanted with them.

"This is just what I needed, thankyou Hollywood!" Erin chirped, reaching forward and yanking on one of the thinner pipes. With a couple of good tugs, it severed, and almost immediately, Alex got the murky smell of gas.

"What are you doing???" He gasped, turning away from the odour disgustedly.

Erin didn't answer; she quickly grabbed the sheaf of papers from Alex's hand. She darted over to the kitchen and before Alex could protest, Erin shoved the papers into the toaster and pulled the switch down.

"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?! You're going to blow us all up!"

Yassen looked up from where he'd finished with the laptop.

"How long do we have?" The Russian asked, walking over.

Erin shrugged.

"Dunno, saw it done on the movie I was watching back at Alex's house. I suggest we go quickly though, the explosion is going to be pretty big."

Nodding, Yassen pulled the front door open. Alex and Erin followed him quickly down the stairs and out of the apartment building.

As they climbed back into the car, Alex turned to Erin.

"What movie were you watching?" He asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

"Bourne Supremacy!" Erin answered cheerfully, doing her seatbelt up as the car accelerated. Shaking his head, Alex did likewise.

After a couple of seconds, a sudden explosion shattered the afternoon air. Behind them, chunks of an apartment block were falling from the sky and people began screaming. The blue Lexus drove on regardless.

* * *

**That pretty little blue review button is staring at you...**

**Translations**

1()"What is this?! Why did you bring children here?! Don't tell me you've gone soft in your old age? This is not a day care centre-"

2() "What old age? You are in no position to call me such, you have let yourself go don't you think? Besides, I had little choice in bringing them here. You know as well as I do that leaving Erin to her own devices is a foolish idea. Anyway, I thought perhaps it was time for her to see exactly what her Father spends his time doing?"


	35. Unwilling

**Chapter 32, Unwilling**

**Hey all! Here you are, a new chappie fresh from my laptop! Aren't you lucky?**

**Okay, so some notes about this chappie:**

**A large amount of the credit for this chappie has to go to CherubChick92 coz she supplied me with the idea for this chappie. This idea she gave me, it's gonna be fuel for a lot of the future stuff in this story. Everyone cheer her on!**

**You're gonna start discovering stuff about Yassen and Erin (over the course of the next few chappies) that has thus far, been a complete mystery and most likely, a mystery that no one has probably bothered wondering about. Interested? I am! Wait…I'm the author…**

**Finally, a substantial amount of this chappie is recapping (For Jack's benefit, the poor girl has no clue what's been happening) so if you haven't been paying much attention to the story, or have forgotten some parts, read that section carefully.**

Disclaimer: -sigh- no not mine, I won't even lie coz I don't want Anthony Horowitz to throw more stuff at me, the man has deadly accuracy!

* * *

Jack awoke feeling disoriented. The last thing she remembered was Yassen lunging forward, a sudden, sharp pressure against her neck and darkness slamming in around her. All in all, Jack wasn't surprised that she woke so bewildered.

However, what she was surprised by was the man leaning over her. That and the smelling salts that the man was holding. Jack coughed and tried backing up. The man spoke.

"Hey, take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you." The man had a nice voice, and odd as it was, Jack found herself attracted to the man's kind eyes. He looked about 30, was clean shaven and had close cropped brown hair.

"What's going on, who are you?" She asked, sitting up awkwardly. The stranger backed off to give her room.

"We found you unconscious on the floor, my name is George Barrett." He said, offering a hand to Jack. She took it and pulled herself into a standing position. Looking around, she realized there were four other men in the house. Swallowing dryly, Jack asked the obvious question.

"Are you lot MI6?"

George nodded.

"Yes, we were told to come and check up on you. Seems like that was a good idea."

For the first time, Jack noticed all the men were armed.

"What's going on? Alex was here, but there was a man and a girl with him and-"

George held his hand up.

"Was the man's name Yassen Gregorovich?" He asked, motioning for one of the other men to come over. The other man was listening intently.

"Yes, but what-"

Jack trailed off as George abruptly turned and started giving orders out to the other man.

"Okay, you heard her! Gregorovich was here, less then three hours ago! Make sure you send the real time reports back to HQ and-"

For a couple of minutes, Jack was content to just get her bearings whilst the MI6 men spouted off in what was gibberish to her. However, Jack had a few questions that she was determined to get answers to.

"Why was Alex here and not in Poland?" She asked, "And why were the other two with him???"

George looked away from where he was delivering orders.

"I'm sorry but, I can't tell you a lot." He sighed.

Jack felt her temper flare and was about to argue, but George quickly held a hand up.

"Look, it's not that I don't want to!" He exclaimed, "But I'm under orders, and I don't even know that much myself!"

Jack frowned, but she could hear the truth ringing in the man's voice. It seemed pointless to argue, so she decided to ask some different questions.

"What is going to happen now? Will Alex be okay?"

George shrugged.

"What happens now? Now we transport you to HQ, Blunt and Jones want to talk to you. They'll explain everything that's happening, and much better then I could."

"Oh." Was all Jack could say. Unsteadily, she walked out to the kitchen. There was an MI6 man in there, but he avoided her eye and quickly left the room. Shrugging it off, Jack found a clean glass and filled it with water. She was halfway through it when her gaze idly fell on the bottle of wine she'd been going to open for lunch. Maybe it was just the bad mood she was in, but suddenly it seemed too grim a day to enjoy a drink. Grimacing, Jack poured the wine down the sink.

A pointed cough got her attention. George was waiting in front of her.

"We need to go now." He said, sounding a little apologetic, "This whole situation is something that really needs to be sorted out and-"

Jack held her hands up.

"It's fine, you don't have to explain." She sighed, tiredly following the man to the front door, "Thought it's nice of you to do that, MI6 usually just does things randomly and explains either when it's all finished or when someone gets hurt. Or worse."

George grimaced at that and looked uncomfortable.

"Well, things are running a little differently this time," He said awkwardly, holding the front door open for Jack.

Jack nodded, and noticed the black four wheel drive in front of the house.

"I thought those things were only movie cliché's?"

George smirked.

"Nope, we use them for heaps of things." He laughed.

Jack smiled, unsure whether to be confused, upset or happy about what was going on. She decided on an uneasy mixture of all three. One of the MI6 men held one of the doors open on the car; it seemed she was sitting in the back with George. Another man was driving.

"What the others doing?" Jack asked, meaning the remaining men who hadn't left the house. George climbed into the car after her.

"Don't worry, they're just going to go through some policy stuff, look for any sort of clue to your…visitors' movements. We don't expect to find anything but…" He trailed off and Jack smiled.

"But you've got to follow orders?" She guessed, as the car started. George nodded, suddenly miserable and didn't say anything else for the entire trip.

* * *

Mrs. Jones had had to do many unpleasant things as Deputy Head of Special Operations of MI6, but this time, she was wondering if just maybe, they were going too far. Surely there were other ways to persuade Alex, Yassen and Erin to cooperate? There had to be.

She turned to say as much to Alan Blunt, but he cut her off before she'd even begun. It was obvious she didn't like the plan; her misgivings were plastered all over her face.

"For heavens sake Tulip, you know as well as I do that this is the only thing that even has a chance of working!" The grey man exclaimed, unusually emotional, "This whole thing needs to be stopped before anyone is killed, and those three are the only ones who are going to be able to do this for us!"

Mrs. Jones pursed her lips angrily.

"That's just it!" She argued, "There has to be a bloodless way to do this! If we go ahead with this, we will be no better then these people!"

Alan Blunt sighed.

"I would love it if that was possible, I really would. It's just not possible though, Alex has to know we mean business when it comes to bringing him back into the fold!"

Mrs. Jones frowned.

"I don't understand why we're targeting Alex; I'd be much happier blackmailing Yassen."

Blunt nodded.

"As would I, but we don't have the means to do so whilst Erin is with him."

Mrs. Jones seemed unable to speak for a moment, but then she looked up and said something very quietly.

"There is a way to blackmail both Yassen and Erin."

Blunt shot his Deputy a sharp look.

"You mean Ariel?"

"Yes."

Blunt shook his head.

"No, I want to keep that trick with us, it's a desperate measures action only. Besides, there's a chance they wouldn't believe that she's alive."

Mrs. Jones sighed, but didn't argue further. She knew that blackmailing Alex was the only way to do this, Yassen and Erin would cooperate if he did. Only thing was, both Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt knew that Alex would resist as long as he could. His resistance was going to cause himself more pain then what he'd ever expect though.

With a sigh, Mrs. Jones prepared for what was to come. The plan would work, but it wasn't going to be pretty.

'_But then, little of what MI6 does is ever pretty.'_ Mrs. Jones thought with a bitter smile, _'Everything comes at a cost.' _

Glancing at her superior, she pressed the intercom button that connected her with her secretary's office.

"Send Ms. Starbright in."

* * *

Jack had to admit she was nervous as she was escorted through the building. She had no idea what was going on, but her instincts told her that it was nothing good. She'd known that the instant Alex, Yassen and Erin had turned up on the front doorstep.

"Ms. Starbright?" A voice made her jump.

A plump, middle aged woman with frizzy hair was standing in front of her.

"Yes?" Jack asked, trying not to sound nervous. Or rude. Or both.

"If you could come this way please." The woman gestured for Jack to follow.

Jack stayed quiet as she was lead down a hallway and through several doors. Eventually, they came to a large wooden door. The woman nodded briskly on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. Jack slowly walked inside.

She was in an office. And across from her were two people: Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt. Two people she hated with a passion. Jack managed to fight her temper down, but she decided she wasn't going to bother being particularly polite.

"Ms. Starbright, thankyou for seeing us." Mrs. Jones said, voice quiet. Jack wasn't sure why, but she'd gotten an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was very wrong here, she just didn't know what. Maybe if she had Alex's instincts, she would have figured it out, but she was a housekeeper, not a spy!

"I don't think I have any choice _but_ to see you." Jack said coldly. Mrs. Jones didn't react to the American woman's tone though; she merely motioned to an armchair in front of the desk.

"Please, have a seat."

Jack stiffly sat down, glaring at Blunt and Jones.

"I was told I was going to get some answers coming here, so I hope you're not wasting my time!" Jack said suddenly, fighting down a feeling of unease again.

Mrs. Jones exchanged a glance with Blunt, who had not spoken yet, before turning back to Jack.

"No, of course not, we brought you in to explain everything. If you would mind a few minutes of your time?"

Jack found the ease that it took to get information was suspicious, but she shrugged the feeling off. Mrs. Jones correctly interpreted her silence as an affirmation, so she explained.

"You obviously know we sent Alex on a mission to Poland, where he was supposed to gather information from a concealed location and report to us by radio once a day."

Jack nodded slowly; Alex had been able to tell her that much before being flown to another country.

"Well, we quickly became aware that had something had gone wrong, because one evening, we received no radio check-in from Alex. When we sent SAS soldiers to his camp, there was no trace of him. The only thing left were his gadgets."

Jack felt her heart catch in her throat even though she knew Alex had turned out fine. Mrs. Jones went on.

"At the same time Alex was in Poland, Erin was there as well, working with an SAS team we had on location destroy the Liberty facility. However, whilst she was in Poland, she discovered that one of the mission's objectives was to kill a man: her Father. Naturally, Erin was distraught, and she tried to run and warn her Father of the danger he was in."

Jack felt a reluctant stab of sympathy for the blonde girl. She also felt a stab of loathing for MI6.

"What about Erin's Mother, were you planning to kill her too?" She asked coldly.

Mrs. Jones exchanged a glance with her superior.

"Erin's mother has been legally dead for five years."

Jack felt even worse for Erin.

"Oh."

Mrs. Jones shot her an odd look before continuing.

"Unfortunately for Erin, the SAS team had a protocol ready in case she should jeopardize the mission; Erin was shot and very nearly killed less then four metres away from where Yassen Gregorovich, her Father, was taking shelter."

Jack felt the same horror that had flooded her when Alex had been shot.

"How could you do that to a 15 year old girl?!" She whispered, scarcely able to speak. Mrs. Jones looked shocked.

"You think we'd do that?!" She exclaimed, "That we'd shoot a young girl in cold blood?!"

Jack's mouth formed an 'O' of confusion.

"But you just said-"

"Ms Starbright, it was the SAS team who shot her, an action completely out of our control. I can guarantee you that we had no part in it!" Mrs. Jones snapped, "Now may I continue?"

Jack nodded.

"Yes, please do." She said faintly.

"Well, at the time, we were unaware that the house that Erin had passed out by was where Yassen was residing, our Intel told us it was a ranger station; this whole thing was taking place in a National Park. We know now that Yassen either killed the ranger or the place had been abandoned previously. So, due to the fact we thought we had no reason to investigate the house, we didn't. For awhile, we lost track of both Alex and Erin."

Jack had found her voice again.

"But how does that happen?" She demanded, "You're _Intelligence_ for God's sake, how do you just 'lose track of' two teenagers?!"

Mrs. Jones looked annoyed by the question, but she answered anyway.

"In a field operation, many things can go wrong. We never expected Alex or Erin to realize Yassen Gregorovich was there as they both had relationships of a sort with the man, but they did. It's proof that even the best laid plan can be damaged in a field operation, it's just a fact!"

Jack frowned, but listened as the MI6 Deputy went on.

"As I was saying, we lost contact with both Alex and Erin for awhile. However, we regained contact when we received a phone call from Erin. You can imagine her mood, she was angry and confused, she had no idea what was going on and she was unwilling to allow us to assist her."

"I wonder why." Jack muttered to herself.

Mrs Jones continued, ignoring the American woman.

"However, we were able to gain some useful information from her: that she was with both her Father and Alex, although she did reveal Alex had sustained injury; a broken ankle and rib to be more specific. It seems that Yassen was responsible for those injuries, delivering them as a method of preventing Alex's escape which would have resulted in Yassen's location being revealed and possibly Alex's own death."

Jack scowled; she didn't care why it was done, she despised the Russian for what he'd done to Alex.

Mrs Jones coughed and Jack looked up again.

"Before this call that a new threat was presented to MI6," The woman said slowly, "We'd known for awhile previously that Liberty was spreading itself into other forms of crime, and that they'd managed to steal a large amount of radioactive material and experimental government equipment. However, we hadn't known what purpose these supplies were being used for."

Mrs Jones paused to take a breath.

"That all changed when Liberty contacted not only MI6, but American and German intelligence forces. They gave us a demand: declare World War Three or all three countries would be targeted with lethal weaponry that we would have no way of fighting. Liberty is an enormous organization, one to be taken seriously, and we all believe their threat. However that is not to say we gave up there and then, we decided immediately to make our new objective to find this cache of weaponry and destroy it. There was a problem though."

Jack knew straight away.

"Liberty threatened that if MI6 or any other agency got involved, they'd attack didn't they?" She asked, with a bitter smile. "You knew you couldn't risk that, so you decided to use Alex, Erin and Yassen."

Mrs Jones looked a little shocked at how quickly Jack had cut through her beating about the bush.

"Yes, it was the logical decision to make!" She said, a little defensively.

Jack's bitter smile didn't leave her face.

"But they escaped," She said softly, "And you know what? I'm glad they did, I think it's disgusting for you to use any of them, even Yassen, like that. I hope they keep running and you never catch them."

For the first time, Alan Blunt spoke.

"How can you say that?" He asked, "Do you want Liberty to do as they threaten? Countless lives will be lost, all because those three didn't help when they were needed most!"

Jack felt a little unsure at that.

"Of course I don't want that to happen!" She exclaimed, insulted and blushing, "How could you think I do?! I'm just saying, they shouldn't have to be the ones to stop Liberty, especially not Alex and Erin!"

Alan Blunt regarded Jack with a cold expression.

"Then who do you suggest help?" He asked flatly.

Jack stayed silent; she knew it was a rhetorical question.

Blunt snorted softly at Jack.

"Regardless of how you feel Ms Starbright, you will help MI6 in returning Alex to the fold."

Jack's temper, which she'd been struggling with for awhile now, exploded.

"That's what you think!" She snapped, outraged by the man's presumptuousness. "I've heard enough, I'm leaving now!"

Springing from her seat, Jack turned to leave the office, but two men had slipped into the office. The blocked the way and they held guns.

"W-what is going on?" Jack demanded, bravado deserting her at the sight of the weapons, "You can't just kill me!"

Blunt smiled coldly.

"Who said anything about killing?"

One of the men raised his gun. Jack felt something slam into her before she fell backwards into darkness.

* * *

The streets were crowded with panicked crowds, speeding police cars, lumbering fire trucks and traffic. The explosion had not been as big as Erin had predicted, but it was big enough for everyone to lose it and the word 'terrorist' started flying around. Yassen shook his head at that.

"By themselves, people can be very intelligent," The Russian muttered, "All together, people are stupid. Honestly, anything goes 'bang' and it's automatically a terrorist attack."

Alex wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, he had a lot on his mind.

"Where are we going now?" He asked, "We're going to get caught if we keep moving around on the streets. Sooner or later, they're going to be looking for this car."

Yassen shrugged.

"I know that," He answered, sounding vaguely annoyed, "There's an apartment I set up along with the account for when I'm ever in London. I set up safe houses for myself in any major city that I visit."

Alex didn't argue further, he was satisfied with that. He still had a lot of questions though.

"Why did you kill Michael?" He asked next.

Yassen glanced at him with an odd expression.

"Why do you ask? Did you like him?"

Alex scowled.

"No! I didn't like him at all, but you don't just shoot people because they annoy you!"

Yassen stared at him flatly and Alex sighed.

"Okay, _normal_ people don't shoot someone because they're annoying." Alex corrected himself. Erin smirked in the back seat.

Yassen just laughed and shook his head.

"And I don't classify as normal?" He jokingly asked. Alex smiled at that. Yassen answered the question after a brief pause.

"I killed him for a couple of reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, the man could have sold information about our visit to him to not only MI6 but Liberty as well. Liberty is an international terrorist organization; just blowing up one of their plants in one country isn't going to stop them. And since I didn't return, they'll assume I betrayed them. Not to mention they already wanted to kill you, Alex. Secondly, the man was a greedy and selfish animal, the world's much better off without him."

Alex hated to admit it, but he saw the logic behind the Russian's words. He shuddered; he felt like he was turning into everything he'd always been afraid of. Suddenly, another question popped into Alex's mind randomly.

"What do you think is going to happen to Jack?" He asked, "Will she be in trouble because we escaped?"

Yassen shrugged.

"I doubt it, it would be stupid to imagine she could try and stop us anyway."

Alex was still worried about Jack though, she was the closest to family he had. Yassen noticed his unease.

"You could call her mobile phone?" The Russian suggested with a sigh, "But be quick, less then a minute. They'll be looking to track the call and obviously we don't want that to happen."

Alex shrugged.

"I can't call her, Erin destroyed my mobile ages ago."

Erin blushed.

"Sorry about that, I was in a bad mood that day."

Alex raised a brow.

"No kidding?" He laughed, "So you _don't_ just crush people's personal property because you feel like it?"

Yassen frowned.

"We'll have to use a public phone then, but like I said, be quick."

Alex gave a nod as Yassen pulled over, the glass cubicle of a public phone box nearby. Alex opened his door, prepared to climb out. Yassen shot him a look as he got out of the car.

"Less then a minute." The Russian reminded him. Alex nodded silently and walked over to the phone box. Luckily, there was no one there already.

Inside the phone box, Alex quickly dialled Jack's mobile; a number he'd been made to memorize ever since Jack had come to live with him and Ian. Listening to the ringing on the other end of the line, Alex stared idly through the glass, where Yassen and Erin waited in the car. Erin was saying something to Yassen, Alex couldn't tell what. Finally, the phone was picked up.

"Jack?" Alex asked, when there was no voice. For a second, there was no reply. Then,

"A-Alex? What-" Jack's panicked voice was only there for a split second, but the fear and raw emotion in it was enough to send Alex's heart rate up. Then, there was the sound of scuffling and another voice; a cold, dead one that made Alex's skin crawl.

"Huxley Residential Building at 6 pm. Be there or Jack dies."

Then, there was silence. Whoever had been on the line had hung up. Alex stood frozen, still staring out onto the street, phone in hand; seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened. As it so often did in London during the winter, it began raining. It had rained almost constantly in London for the last couple of weeks, but that didn't register with Alex. He just stared through the glass, ignoring the drops of rain that clung to the phone box.

* * *

Alex wasn't sure how long he was in the phone box, a sort of numb horror had frozen time around him and it came as a surprise when someone began talking to him.

"Alex?! What are you doing?"

Alex started, he was standing as still as a statue, one hand still curled in a death-grip around the phone, the other hanging loosely at his side. Yassen gently pulled the phone's receiver from the teen's grip. He put it back on the hook and turned back to face Alex.

"What's happened?" The Russian asked, trying to understand. Alex just shook his head slowly. Erin had been watching from the car for a minute, but she climbed out now and ran over, making faces at the rain

"What's going on?" She asked, having to raise her voice as the volume of the falling rain increased. Yassen shook his head.

"I don't know."

Erin frowned and turned to Alex.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, sounding unusually soft and kind. Alex blinked and looked at her. When he spoke, his voice was raw with guilt and misery.

"They have Jack."


	36. Blood and Tears

**Chapter 33, Blood and Tears**

**Yup, here's a new chappie! Not much to say 'bout this one so….**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Alex Rider. I do not own Yassen. I do how ever own Erin :D**

* * *

'_They have Jack.'_

Saying the words out loud suddenly made it all real for Alex. The numb feeling swept away and black anger replaced it.

"MI6?" Erin asked, eyes widening.

Alex nodded, fists clenched.

"I have to be at the Huxley Residential Building at 6, or they kill her." He said, voice hard and bleak.

Yassen hadn't said anything yet, but Alex knew he was considering their options. The Russian was smart; he saw that if Jack was going to survive, they had to be there. MI6 would do exactly as they threatened, he knew that. However, Yassen wasn't willing to be captured for the sake of anyone else. Even if that person was all Alex had for family.

"You know we can't go." The Russian said bluntly, leading the way back to the car. Alex stopped and glared at him.

"How can you say that?!" He snapped, "I can't just leave her to be killed!"

Erin turned to face Yassen.

"He has a point," She agreed, "It's not fair to leave her to die."

Yassen raised a brow and stared at his daughter.

"Since when have you started caring about what's 'fair'?" He asked.

Erin shrugged and Alex shook his head angrily. This was getting him nowhere!

"Look, I'm going to go help Jack and I don't care if I have to go alone!" Alex snarled, choosing to ignore the way Yassen shot him a warning glance. Erin had gone a little pale.

"Alex, what are saying? You can't go, let alone by yourself!" She exclaimed, "That's just stupid!"

Alex shook his head, able to convince himself that it was the rain trailing down his face, not tears.

"I have to go; this is Jack we're talking about!" He said, anguish seeping into his words. Erin bit her bottom lip, she knew how close Jack and Alex were; she'd figured that out quickly.

"At least don't go by yourself!" She begged.

Alex looked sad, but shook his head.

"Are you willing to come with me?" He asked.

Hating herself, Erin looked down at the wet pavement; embarrassed. She wished she wasn't so selfish. Her hair was plastered to her face by the rain, giving her an unloved look.

"No."

Alex wasn't angry; he'd known that would be how Erin would answer.

"Then I have to go by myself, that's just the way it is." He said, a little hollowly. He turned to Yassen.

"Don't try and stop me." Alex said, looking the Russian in the eye. Yassen shook his head.

"I don't think I have any right to." Yassen said, looking away. "I do think what you're doing is foolish though."

Alex shrugged awkwardly and shook his head.

"I know, but Jack is only involved in all of this because of me. I have to help her, at least try to anyway."

Yassen's face revealed nothing, the Russian just nodded.

"Okay, good luck then."

Alex bit his lip, but didn't waste anymore time on goodbyes. He just turned and began walking down the street, Erin watching him go. As Alex's figure shrunk into the distance, the rain plummeting down turned to snow. Winter's grip on London tightened.

* * *

**Did you like it? I did! Now, I hate to say this, but there's going to be like, a month's wait for the next chappie.**

* * *

As he lay on his belly in the falling snow, Alex was almost able to convince himself he was in Poland again. Almost. Things were different now though; he was on the roof of a high rise building, not a forested hill. And it wasn't his own life he was worried about this time. 

Alex had spent the time leading up to now preparing. He'd bought himself grey clothing, to match the concrete roof he was on. He'd also bought binoculars, walkie-talkies, a cheap watch and a hot tea. The tea was long gone; he'd drank it waiting in the bitter cold. Alex had shredded the flimsy paper cup from nervousness, waiting from his concealed spot behind a collection of pipes and air conditioning units. The entire rooftop was like that, covered in various utility pieces. The entire building was ugly, but the roof really completed the image.

Resisting the urge to move from his uncomfortable position, Alex checked the watch.

5:45 pm.

With a barely audible sigh, Alex got ready. He picked up the binoculars and shuffled forward a little, so he could peer through a narrow gap beneath one of the larger pipes. He also switched on one of the walkie-talkies, taping the 'transmit' button on, so he could speak and be heard without using his hands. The other one was already switched on, placed on the rooftop of the Huxley Residential Building over an hour ago. The walkie-talkie gave a comforting chirp as it switched on. Its little screen showed full battery. A little relieved, Alex checked his watch again.

5:59 pm.

Heart pounding, Alex leaned forward and looked through the binoculars. The Huxley Residential Building, not for from the Thames, suddenly seemed close enough to touch, as oppose to two hundred metres away. Somewhere in the distance, a clock began striking.

6:00 pm.

On the Huxley Building's rooftop, there was movement. Three men and one woman appeared, moving quickly up the flight of stairs leading from lower floors. Alex stared, the woman was Jack. She was being dragged by one of the men, a thickset grunt from the looks of him. Jack looked terrified, she had tape across her mouth. Tearing his horrified gaze away, Alex looked at the other two men. One was a sniper, Alex could tell instinctively, even without the rifle that was being set up on the building's edge. He guessed that if he revealed himself, he'd be shot non-fatally so he couldn't run. What fun.

It was the sight of the last man that truly affected Alex though. It was Alan Blunt.

As tiny snow flakes fell around him, Alex felt frozen. The grey man was standing quite confidently, completely in control. His words were picked up by the walkie-talkie Alex had hidden on the rooftop.

"Check for bugs, he will have prepared himself for this."

Alex wanted to groan out loud, but he knew that would be transmitted over the walkie-talkies and over to Blunt. It took the grunt who had been restraining Jack less then a minute to find the walkie-talkie. Alan Blunt took the machine with a satisfied expression on his face. He put it up to his mouth and spoke.

"Game over Alex."

Alex didn't say anything, but his hands shook as he gripped the binoculars tighter then ever.

"I know you're listening and watching, so don't bother trying to hide. You know that if you do, Jack will die."

Terrified and desperate, Alex tried to block the insidious words out. He couldn't though; he knew that Alan Blunt was a man who didn't make idle threats. He had to do something, but what?

"Alex, you have exactly one minute to reveal yourself, or Jack will die. This will be your only warning; we will shoot her in one minute."

Alex felt horror freeze him for a second.

"Fifty nine, Fifty eight, Fifty seven-"

Swallowing painfully, Alex looked around for something to help him. After a couple precious moments of searching, he found a solution. Even if he was to stand, he wouldn't be able to be seen. He had to get up to the platform in the middle of the roof that had all the radio and satellite towers on it. Problem was, it was a difficult climb and time was running out.

"Forty eight, Forty seven, Forty six-"

Panicking, Alex stood quickly. The rain and snow had made the concrete slippery, so it was with some difficulty he manoeuvred his way out of the niche in the pipes he'd been hiding in. Immersed in a jungle of pipes, air conditioning units and other various obstacles, Alex made his way towards the raised platform. He still had the walkie-talkie in hand, the counting continued.

"Thirty, Twenty-Nine, Twenty-Eight-"

Less then half a minute! Alex tried not to panic, but it was a difficult thing. The platform was in front, but it was three metres, straight up. He couldn't see any stairs, or any other way to climb up. Then, he caught sight of a tiny, rusty steel ladder clinging to the concrete wall.

"Twenty three, Twenty two, Twenty one-"

Breath coming out in ragged gasps, Alex hurried forward, nearly slipping on the slick surface. With less then a metre to go, he stumbled and crashed into the base of the ladder. Painfully, Alex hauled himself up and began climbing. Then, the unbelievable happened. Someone called his name.

"Alex, stop!"

Hands grabbed him from behind, he was pulled by them. Alex lost his grip on the ladder and fell backwards, crashing to the ground. Dazed and winded, Alex rolled over. To his shock, Erin was kneeling next to him, a huge bruise blooming on her left cheek. She was yelling at him, but Alex was too pumped with adrenalin to understand.

"Fifteen, Fourteen-"

Alex sprung to his feet and shoved Erin away. He tried to get to the ladder again, but before he could even grab a hold of the rungs before someone pulled him away. Shouting, Alex struggled desperately, but whoever had him was stronger then Erin. He couldn't get free.

"Stop, let me go!" Alex yelled, he could see where Jack was standing. She was in the middle of the rooftop, eyes huge. Alex couldn't see it, but she was crying.

"Jack!" Alex shouted, fighting his captor savagely, "Jack!"

He'd dropped the walkie-talkie; it was lying mere feet away. Blunt's words still leaked from the speaker.

"Five, four, three-"

Alex realized with a start that tears were gathering in his eyes. He couldn't get free, someone was holding onto him with an iron grip. He could hear words in his ear, but they were meaningless.

"Two…"

Everything went still, there seemed to be no noise except for what came from the walkie-talkie.

"One."

Alex screamed Jack's name as loud as he could. At the same time, there was a single, thunderous crack. On the Huxley Residential Building's roof, one red haired figure fell to its knees. Then, it toppled and lay on the snowy roof, a pool of blood spreading.

Jack had been shot. Jack was dead.

Alex lost it, he kept screaming Jack's name but he fell to his knees as well, tears pouring down his face. He wanted so badly for everything to just stop so that he could mourn alone, but words were coming from the small machine at his feet. Biting his yells back, Alex listened.

"We warned you what would happen, but you didn't listen. Now you are paying the price. If you do not return to HQ and do what we say, everyone you know and love will be hunted down and you will see them go through the same thing. The choice is yours."

Then, there was silence. Alex stood, Jack may be dead but he could still be there for her. He tried to run to the stairs, but his captor grabbed him again. There were words again, but this time he understood.

"Alex! Stop and listen to me, you can't go to her!"

It was Yassen. The Russian was restraining him, trying to get through to him. There was blood on him. Alex realized it was his blood, his fall from the ladder had cut his head open, and he was bleeding badly.

"Let me go! I have to help her!" Alex shouted, struggling. It was no use though; Yassen was three times his strength.

"You can't!" The Russian yelled back, "She'd dead, you can't do anything! You can't go to her!"

Alex felt fury overrun him, he hated Yassen. He hated Erin for making him fall. He hated MI6 for shooting Jack. Anger spoke for him, not logic.

"Just because _you're_ so fucking cold you don't care about anyone but yourself," Alex screamed at the Russian, "You won't let me go!"

Shock crossed Yassen's face, he released Alex abruptly. Alex tried to run forward, but blood dripped down his face blinding him. And he felt sluggish and dizzy, he took a step forward before he stumbled and fell to the concrete ground. He could hear Erin screaming at him, but he couldn't answer. He was dizzy, the world spun around him and everything went dark. Alex moaned one thing before passing out.

"I'm so sorry Jack."

* * *

**Omg, i was nearly crying myself this chappie is so sad :'(**

**Some of you may absolutely hate me for killing Jack, but it makes sense for the future of the story. Sorry, but it had to be done!**


	37. Mourning Distractions

**Chapter 34, Mourning Distractions**

**A/N**** Sorry, this chappie is really just filler fluff. The next one is much better, but it also has Snakehead spoilers, so I don't know if people will want to read it. Tell me if you want the next chappie up (I have it written already) when you review or when you PM me. If I don't get at least 5 reviews saying 'no, don't put the next chappie up yet' I'll upload it regardless. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: **Hahaha! Anthony Horowitz had to run some errands; he can't throw rocks at me! Alex Rider is all minnneeee!!! O shit, he's back and he's throwing bricks now!!

It's not mine, I swear it! Happy Anthony?!?!

* * *

Alan Blunt wasn't surprised; he'd known that even if Alex had tried to give up, Yassen would have stopped him. Alex knew too much for the Russian to allow him to come back to MI6. Still, Blunt had hoped that his plan would work. Now, he wasn't so sure. Maybe Tulip had been right; maybe he should have brought Ariel in to this.

Shaking his head, Blunt turned to face his helpers. They were either avoiding his eye or looking at the blood soaked body at their feet.

"Clean this up; I don't want anything in the media." He ordered before leaving the roof.

The other men did as they were told; they knew not to argue when their boss was in a bad mood.

* * *

Alex woke in a car. The Lexus, he slowly realized. Even though he was still half-asleep, Alex wondered why they were still using the Lexus; surely it would be reported stolen soon? He decided that the whole thing was too hard to figure out, maybe later. He was more interested in seeing what was going on and why he'd been asleep.

As he stirred, Alex's head gave a painful throb. It felt like someone had smacked with him with a sledgehammer. Alex started to wonder why his head hurt, but then, it all came back. Jack was dead.

The sudden surge of memory overwhelmed him, Alex gave a low groan. Everything was dark and cold, Alex felt horrible, even worse then when Ian had died. Someone spoke, but it was in Russian and not directed at him. Alex opened his eyes.

He was in the back of the Lexus; Erin was sitting next to him. Yassen was driving, obviously. Erin was looking at him with an expression of mingling concern and wariness. She said something again, but in English this time.

"You're awake then. That's good."

Alex didn't answer; he just shook his head and pushed back the tears. He wasn't going to cry, he'd never been the emotional kind. Not in that sense anyway. He weakly pushed himself up, so he was sitting up properly. He could see now through the window, they were not near the Thames anymore, he didn't really know where they were, just that they were still in the main part of London.

It was hard to concentrate, and not just because of the smothering sadness; his head was killing him. Shakily, Alex put a hand up to his forehead, he could feel dried blood. With a start, he remembered his fall from the ladder. He'd hit his head.

Erin had noticed the gesture, she bit her bottom lip.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hurt you." She sounded unusually timid as she apologised. Alex knew she was worried about him, but he didn't care.

"Why did you come and help me?" He asked her instead. Erin shook her head.

"I didn't, it wasn't my idea."

_No wonder she sounded so scared_, Alex thought bitterly, _because she knows that she was too much of a coward to help._

That left Yassen.

"Why did you do it?" Alex asked the Russian, trying not to sound as angry as he felt.

Yassen didn't reply, and Alex felt his temper flare accordingly.

"Why?!" He demanded furiously, "Why'd you stop me from helping Jack?!"

Yassen didn't look away from the road as he answered.

"I didn't want them to capture you, I didn't know if they would kill you or not."

Alex didn't believe for a second that that was the real reason the Russian had did what he had. He believed that the real reason was that Yassen hadn't wanted MI6 to get him and find out information about what Yassen was doing. It was a highly cynical suspicion, but not an altogether untruthful one. However, what Alex didn't know was that Yassen actually had been concerned about him, and that was he main reason he'd come back.

Erin knew that Alex was angry and upset; she didn't say anything and neither did Yassen. Both of them left Alex to sit and mourn alone.

Alex sat slumped against his seat, staring out the car window. Memories of all that he and Jack had done together flashed by, she'd been like a big sister to him and since Ian's death, his only family. Now she was gone. The memories kept coming.

_Seven year old Alex playing hide and go seek with Jack on Christmas Eve. Alex hiding under his bed, trying not to giggle as Jack hunted around the room for him, calling his name every now and again. Alex laughing as Jack found him and tickled him._

Alex shook himself, trying not to let the memories overrun him, but it was a battle in vain.

_Eight year old Alex falling from a tree and cutting his leg open. Alex crying and looking for Ian, only to limp into the house and discover a note saying he'd left on a 'business meeting in Germany' and wouldn't be back for a day. Jack finding Alex crying and bleeding and gathering him up and attending to the painful wound with a gentle diligence that Ian had lacked._

Despite the misery, Alex found himself thinking about Ian. The man had been loving in his own way, but he'd never been there. Not in the day to day manner of a proper caregiver. It had always been Jack who'd been there for him, who'd done everything.

_Jack watching eleven year old Alex at his soccer game and cheering him on. He always said it was embarrassing, but he secretly liked it; he liked someone being there to encourage him. He just wished Ian could be there more._

Alex shook his head, what was the matter with him? He'd been through enough to know how to bury the sadness and get on with things. So why was he so out of control now?

_Fourteen year old Alex listening to the news of the death of Ian. Jack finding him an hour later, sitting on the couch, staring into space. Her hugging him and shaking him from his numb, dead trance. _

Alex put his foot down with that memory. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, it was too much torture. He turned his mind to other things, anything other then Jack's death.

Oddly enough, it worked. A strange, but dire question came to mind, one that demanded an answer. Now that he had absolutely no one, what was Alex going to do? Where would he live? What was he going to do about MI6?

Alex didn't have the answers to any of those questions, and they tore at him the same way thinking about Jack did, so he stopped thinking altogether. Alex closed his eyes and gratefully let sleep take him.

* * *

The apartment wasn't enormous, but it was clean and nice enough. It was no million dollar penthouse, but Yassen had already said that such things were no good for those who wanted to stay hidden. Anyway, the apartment was expensive enough. Unless you were a Russian assassin who'd set the place up as a safe-house and used various methods of dubious legality to obtain the place very cheaply.

Alex looked around the main living area of the apartment with a detached numb sort of interest. It was contemporarily furnished, but not in the cold, stainless steel covered manner Alex would have expected. The main living area shared a wall-less space with the kitchen, there were two bedrooms, each off to the side of the living area. Both had an ensuite.

"This is better then the place in Berlin." Erin remarked to Yassen, taking a tentative step forward. The Russian smiled.

"The place in Berlin _was_ a dump." Yassen agreed, "I was happy to be out of there. Still, that job payed well."

Then, both of them glanced at Alex as if suddenly remembering he was there. Alex shrugged.

"It's nice." He said dully, standing in the middle of the room, looking a little like a lost child. Erin glanced at Yassen; the Russian shook his head at her, saying something in Russian. Erin made a face, but seemingly didn't see any point in arguing, she looked away.

"Are either of you hungry?" Yassen asked. Erin nodded and Alex did likewise, although he didn't really know if he was actually hungry. Just imitating Erin would do for now, it made things simpler.

"I need to get some things, I'll get food." Yassen said to them, "I think there are things like coffee and cups though. I only threw the perishable food out when I was last here."

Erin looked unhappy about this, so Yassen looked over at her.

"You're going to go grocery shopping looking like that?" Erin asked, pointing at her Father.

It was a valid point; Yassen still had blood on his clothing from when Alex had cut his head open. Not to mention his face was half covered in cuts and bruises from MI6 interrogation.

Yassen frowned as he looked down at his shirt.

"I left a jacket last time I was here," he said eventually, "I always leave a few things. I'll just wear that over everything. I can't do anything about my face though; I'll just say a cat attacked me or something."

Erin looked like she was tempted to both groan and laugh.

"Do you seriously think anyone will believe you when you say a _cat_ did that to you?" She asked incredulously.

Yassen looked at her sourly.

"I didn't mean that literally," He said frostily, "I meant that I'd just make an excuse. Your lack of faith in me is amazing."

Erin smirked.

"Are you really surprised by my lack of faith?"

Yassen's good humour vanished abruptly. He looked faintly troubled as he headed to the bedroom door on the right with the car key in hand.

"No, I'm not surprised."

Then, he reappeared wearing a long, black coat and left the apartment, the door shutting behind him.

Erin turned to Alex; he hadn't moved from where he stood in the middle of the room. She frowned and walked over to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, reaching out gently. Alex turned around and looked at her, more miserably then bitterly.

"What sort of question is that, given the circumstances?" He asked, his eyes cool and speculative. Erin sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry." She said, "That was dumb of me."

Despite himself, Alex felt a twinge of guilt when he saw how bad Erin felt. He couldn't deny how he felt about her, even in the depths of misery.

"It's okay." He muttered, "You didn't mean it."

Erin looked unhappy, Alex guessed that she wasn't used to seeing other people upset; the girl had been almost totally alone for the last five years.

"Umm, I'm going to have a coffee, do you want one?" She asked awkwardly, glancing at the kitchen as if expecting inspiration to come from there. Alex shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" He sighed, "No milk and no sugar."

Erin pretended to be horrified.

"No sugar?" She gasped, "That's a sin!"

Alex grinned back.

"Well, just call me the Devil then!" He smirked, "I hate sugar in coffee!"

Erin laughed and walked into the kitchen. After searching for a couple of moments, she managed to find a couple of canisters with sugar and coffee. There was an electric kettle plugged in already, Erin filled it with water quickly.

Looking around the kitchen, Alex found one crucial part of his morning routine missing.

"No tea?" He asked, a little disappointed. Erin shook her head.

"My Father hates tea, coffee only I'm afraid."

Alex nodded, and then asked something that had been bothering him for a little while.

"How come you never call him 'Dad' or even 'Yassen'?" He asked curiously, watching the blonde girl as she switched the kettle on. Erin turned and frowned at him.

"'Dad' is so infantile," She said, "And besides, can you seriously see anyone referring to him as that? I don't think so."

Alex frowned as well and leaned against the kitchen countertop.

"So call him Yassen, it's weird listening to you talk about him and never call him by name."

Erin shrugged.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit I got into. He doesn't care what I call him so long as it's not 'Daddy' or 'Asshole'."

Alex laughed and Erin smiled. For a second, both of them were silent, wrapped up in their own thoughts. Then, the kettle made a clicking noise and the little red light turned off. Erin silently picked it up and quickly poured the water into both her and Alex's mug. She handed Alex's mug over; he accepted it with a nod.

Alex wasn't big into coffee, but he was tired. He didn't want to sleep, so this was the easiest way of staying awake he could think of. Still, he couldn't help but grimace as he knocked back the hot liquid. He noticed Erin was wincing too.

"No milk," She explained, noting his curious expression, "I can't stand it without milk."

Alex smirked and put his empty mug down.

"What now?" He asked, suddenly bored. Alex wanted something to do; he knew that if he wasn't busy, thoughts of Jack would come. That was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

Erin shrugged.

"I dunno, what do you want to do?"

Alex shrugged as well, feeling despair creep up on him.

"Anything!" He declared, trying (struggling more like it) not to sound as pathetic and desperate as he felt.

Erin pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Well, we can't leave the building." She said, "But no one said anything about not leaving the apartment, did they?"

Alex nodded.

"No, no one said anything about that." He agreed, not altogether sure where this was going.

Erin looked suddenly delighted.

"I have an idea!" She sang, making Alex wince. Erin was pretty, smart, witty, athletically endowed and a million other things, but under no circumstances was she a singer.

"Really?" Alex asked weakly, trying not to pay attention to the feeling of foreboding that was trickling through him. "What sort of idea?"

* * *

As much as he hated to admit it, Alex thought this might have actually been one of Erin's better ideas. The activity he was currently engaged in was diverting, required grace (something Alex was surprised to discover he had) and athletic ability and was, dare he even say it, fun.

With that in mind, Alex took a deep breath and launched himself from the top of the staircase. After hanging in mid-air for a second or two, he fell to the floor of the landing in the concrete stairwell. Normally, this would be an extremely debilitating impact, but Alex and Erin had been prudent enough to plan for this. Well, Erin had anyway, Alex had thought she'd gone insane when she dragged the mattress of the bed from the bedroom in the apartment (not Yassen's room obviously, neither Alex nor Erin were suicidal enough to even dream of entering _that_ room).

Even with the mattress in place though, the impact still knocked the wind out of Alex. Sucking in a mouthful of air greedily, he rolled of the mattress. Just in time too, the thump of Erin landing on the mattress came less then a second after he'd vacated the bedding. She seemed to have been taken by surprise by the impact, because she also rolled off the mattress with a shocked sounding yelp.

Laughing, Alex stumbled to his feet. Erin did likewise.

"That almost hurt, we could've injured ourselves!" She gasped, hardly able to get the words out for giggles. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, let's do it again!"

For almost an hour, they played like that, taking turns to jump from the top of the stairs and onto the mattress, laughing hysterically at each other. Eventually, almost inevitably, it became more competitive, to the point where the fun was replaced by silence and it was just Alex and Erin focusing intently on landing as close to the centre of the mattress as possible.

Finally, Alex tired of the game and slipped away, wanting to be alone. He did so just as Erin was getting ready for her turn, she never noticed his disappearance. Erin lined herself up, and leapt forward yelling,

"Beat this Alex!"

Unfortunately for her, the continuous impacts with the mattress had pushed it forward again and again to the point where it was right on the edge of the landing. Erin jumping on it pushed right over, and her kinetic energy forced it forward down the stairs. Shocked and dismayed, Erin could only scream and cling to the mattress as it flew down the steep staircase. At one point, the mattress hit the banister, and it was flipped around, so Erin was zooming precariously down a staircase backwards. Suddenly, there was a shout and the mattress stopped abruptly. Someone had grabbed the mattress, she felt a little bad because she seemed to have nearly knocked them over. With a moan of relief, Erin slumped on the mattress.

"Do I even ask?" Someone asked, from a spot vaguely above her head.

Erin titled her head back and groaned. Yassen was standing in front of her, carrying several large plastic bags and wearing an expression that was both annoyed and amused.

"Depends, do you want the truth, or a lie?" Erin asked weakly, getting to her feet. Yassen thought about it for a second.

"The truth." The Russian said wryly, as Erin picked the mattress up.

"Then you don't ask." Erin grunted, dragging the mattress back up the stairs. Yassen followed her with a slight smile, pushing the other end of the mattress up with his foot every now and then.

"Where's Alex?" Yassen asked suddenly, as Erin stumbled on the stairs. Erin straightened up quickly. She looked over her shoulder to the landing where she'd last seen him.

"He's right…" Erin noticed Alex was gone. "Well he _was_ right there." She said lamely, dropping the mattress on the landing, "I don't know where he is now."

Yassen sighed in exasperation, but didn't even bother. He simply picked the mattress up himself, and shoved the shopping bags into Erin's arms.

"I'll put this away," The Russian said, brandishing the mattress, "You put everything else back in the apartment, I'm going to find Alex."

Without another word, Yassen strode away. He was more worried then he let on, but he had a sneaking suspicion where Alex would have gone.

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**So, this wasnt one of my better chapters, i'll admit that, it was more so i could warn you about the Snakehead spoiler's in the next chappie. They're not massive ones, they're more just small pieces of speech and memories from the book. Oh, never mind, there is a revelation in the next chappie that's not until the end of the book...Damn, thats bad.**

**Anyway, if you don't want the next chappie put on, tell me! Otherwise, you might read it and be mad coz it's got spoilers in it!**

**R 'n' R as always!**

**TTFN from vampassassin**


	38. An Odd Sort Of Bonding

**Chapter 35, An Odd Sort Of Bonding**

**IMPORTANT: This chappie has Snakehead spoilers, do NOT read this chappie if you don't want to read the spoilers!**

Disclaimer: Alas, It is not mine...Weep for me :'(

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Like he'd predicted, Yassen found Alex on the roof. Alex was sitting on the edge, with his legs hanging over. It was only early evening, but the season meant that the sun was already setting and rush hour was just beginning on the streets. It had stopped snowing, but the air was still cool, though not as bitterly cold as it had been.

The Russian stayed where he was for a second, framed in the staircase doorway and half covered in shadow. Then, he stirred and approached Alex slowly.

The teen was sitting with his back to the Russian, and Yassen was hesitant to call Alex's name. In his distressed state, Alex might get a shock and fall over the edge of the building. Needless to say, that would be bad, especially after Yassen had gone to the trouble to ensure his survival. So, Yassen sat next to Alex instead, wondering why he was bothering. After what had happened today, he wouldn't be surprised or blame Alex if the teen hated him. To be honest, the Russian expected it.

To his surprise though, Alex barely reacted to his presence. He just kept staring straight ahead, eyes fixed on the horizon without really seeing what was there. London was full of life beneath their feet, but the restive city's noise seemed far-away and extraneous on the rooftop.

"You really shouldn't be out here, there could be snipers and one bullet is more then enough for anyone." Yassen said eventually, after indulging Alex with what he'd considered enough time to himself. Immediately, Alex winced and Yassen regretted his choice of words. The Russian wondered again why he was bothering, he had no idea how to deal with a child, let alone one who'd just gone through trauma. Erin was evidence of that, Yassen may have genuinely cared about and loved his daughter, but when her Mother had died, he'd caused a lot of inadvertent damage to her. And not physical damage either, although her training had done that too. Yassen knew that he had now done the same to Alex. It seemed that hurting people wasn't just a job for him; it was something he did with amazing regularity. Both on purpose and by accident.

Alex seemed to notice the Russian's dismayed expression, because he grimaced.

"Sorry, I know you didn't-"

Yassen cut him off, waving a hand at him.

"It's fine, it was my mistake."

Alex shrugged, but didn't get up and move like Yassen had hoped. With a sinking feeling, Yassen realized that the teen was going unload on him, all the misery and anguish he was doubtlessly feeling.

Yassen tried not to groan or sigh out loud, but the fact was he had enough trouble keeping a check on his own emotions without taking a fifteen year olds suffering on board too. Alex noticed Yassen's silent horror.

"You are really not good with other people, are you?" Alex asked with a slight smile. The Russian tried to smile as well, but it wasn't easy; Yassen Gregorovich's life had rarely provided reason or opportunity to be happy and smile. Still, he did his best.

"Erin could have told you that." He said lightly.

A smile flickered across Alex's face for a split second. But it died as Alex turned his head to face Yassen. The Russian didn't turn, but that didn't bother Alex.

"Thanks for… Well thanks anyway." Alex muttered, frowning slightly. Yassen did turn now; he glanced at Alex looking slightly bemused.

"For what? And why?" The Russian asked.

Alex shrugged.

"For stopping me from giving myself in, I wasn't thinking clearly and I know now I would have regretted my choice later. I'm sorry I said what I did."

Yassen grimaced, but didn't respond, he'd actually felt bad when he'd grabbed Alex and stopped him from running to Jack liked he'd so desperately wanted. The pain he'd caused Alex had been laid bare to see when the teen had fought like hell to get free and shouted at him.

'_Just because you're so fucking cold you don't care about anyone else but yourself…'_

The words that Alex had spat viciously, whilst trying to get free, ran through Yassen's mind again. The Russian didn't want to admit it, but those words more then anything else had been what had made him release Alex so suddenly. They'd triggered a rare moment of self-disgust.

'_I care about you, I care about Erin. Hell knows why.' _Yassen thought to himself bitterly.

Yassen wondered if he'd actually said his thoughts out loud, because Alex looked over at him curiously.

"Why exactly _do_ you care about me?" He asked suddenly, "It's more then repaying a debt to my Father, who's been dead for years now, so don't use that excuse."

Yassen closed his eyes for a second; he'd always hated being questioned and he hated this question a lot more then normal ones. Opening his eyes, Yassen decided that the truth was due, if not over-due. It was beginning to be a pain Alex doing his best to aggravate him; maybe telling him why he even bothered would stop that.

"You have to understand, when I first arrived at Scorpia, I had no one; my parents were dead, I had no siblings and no other family at all," Yassen said slowly, aware that although Alex was listening intently, the teen was unsure what that had to do with him.

"From the beginning, I was a natural. I rose to the top of all the classes, I was a willing learner and even better, I'd found a place of belonging."

"However, I didn't make friends in Scorpia. Others were suspicious of me and I didn't relate well to the other operatives, so I got into fights…A lot. One of the others being trained at the time attacked me with a knife one night. I was forced to kill him without a second thought, just like I'd been trained."

Yassen paused, and Alex felt a chill go down his spine. He found it was easy to imagine; a brief struggle in the dark, the gleam of metal and then, a thump as a body hit the ground. Maybe a younger Yassen standing in shock. _Probably not_, Alex corrected himself, _Yassen said 'without a second thought'_.

"I thought that would be it for me," The Russian went on, "I was found covered in another man's blood and everyone knew I was by far the better student, I was skilled with unarmed combat too. I never tried to deny what had happened, I knew there was no point so I stayed silent. I was sure I'd be either killed, or sent away, but oddly enough, that never happened."

"Your Father had only just started teaching at Malagosto, but as it turned out, he'd been watching me. I guess he told the other instructors he'd deal with me. He was, after all, renowned for being one of the harsher instructors, he held people to very high standards."

Yassen paused, seemingly to get his thoughts in order. When he spoke again, his voice was cautiously measured, as if he was considering his choice of words very carefully.

"You already know that your Father and I got along very well, we became good friends. Having no family, I guess I saw John as a mix between a brother and a Father figure. He was a mentor to me anyway; you've been told I looked up to him."

Alex nodded, he'd been told as much by both Yassen himself and Ash.

"So what does that have to do with me?" He asked warily.

Yassen smiled for a moment.

"You're a lot like your Father," The Russian said with a shrug, "That's why I've invested a fair amount of effort into keeping you alive and well, because it's a little like seeing John again. Besides, Erin would not be happy if I let you die simply because I couldn't care less."

Alex didn't reply straight away, but Yassen noticed with a smirk that a very faint blush had appeared on the teen's face at the mention of Erin.

"You know, my Father really liked you." Alex said after a moment, "Heaven knows why." He added with a grin.

"He was undercover," Yassen reminded him gently, "He would have had to be an excellent actor."

Alex shook his head.

"No, he really did like you."

How would you know that?" Yassen asked curiously. Alex grimaced.

"Ash told me." He answered shortly, still bitter at the thought his now dead Godfather. At the same time, Alex realized there was a certain irony to the way Yassen had interacted with his family: Alex's Father had provided the skills that Yassen used kill Ian, John's own brother. Funny that.

"I don't know who-" Yassen began, but Alex cut in.

"Yes you do, you knifed him on the streets of Mdina," Alex said, voice hard. "You left him to die. Ash told me everything that happened in Malta. He was my Godfather, so he told me everything."

Yassen looked away, staring at the horizon. The dying sun's crimson light cast an odd, bloody pallor over the Russian already pale skin. His blue eyes were far away.

"I wish he hadn't." Yassen muttered. Alex glanced at him curiously.

"Why? Do you regret what you did?" He asked.

Yassen shook his head.

"I've done nothing I regret," The Russian said, "I wish he hadn't told you because Malta is a bad memory for me and I hadn't thought about it for a long time until you brought it up now."

Alex raised a brow.

"Why is it a bad memory?" He asked.

Yassen grimaced.

"It was the last time I saw your Father, next thing I heard, he'd died in a plane crash. Also, Malta was the only time I'd ever failed something, I failed to kill Ash when I should have."

"Yeah, it's a pity you didn't kill Ash when you had the chance," Alex agreed bitterly. Yassen glanced at him in confusion.

"Why, I thought he was your Godfather?"

"Yes, but it turns out he went to working for Scorpia after Malta. He was too injured to really be a field operative again, so Scorpia welcomed him with open arms. He was the one who planted the bomb that killed my parents." Alex said.

Yassen's expression darkened.

"I never knew that," The Russian said, voice straining slightly. "In a way, that means my failure caused John's death. I wish I didn't know that."

Alex tried to answer, but the questions that had been torturing him since waking up in the car came out instead.

"What do I do now?" Alex asked forlornly, "My parents are dead, my Uncle is dead and now Jack. I have no one, but I'm fifteen years old, I can't live on my own!"

Yassen didn't seem able or willing to answer, the Russian just shook his head slowly.

"I do know something though," Alex said suddenly, "I have to do what they say."

Yassen turned to face Alex sharply.

"I thought you said you were glad that I stopped you from going back to them!"

Alex looked miserable.

"I can do what they want without rejoining them. Besides, you heard what Blunt said" if I don't, everyone I care about will be hunted down. How can I say me desire for freedom justifies the deaths of the ones I love? That's just it, I can't! I have to do what they want, even if it means stopping Liberty single handed and ending this thing!"

Yassen looked angry suddenly.

"And what about after, when MI6 doesn't have any use for you anymore?" He asked, eyes hard, "Do you seriously think that they'll just leave you alive?! And even if they do, what happens to you? I can answer that; you wont want to go to an institution so you'll end up on the streets!"

Alex looked taken-aback by the Russian's outburst, but recovered quickly.

"What other choice do I have?!" He yelled, "Anyway, it won't be that hard, I can take care of myself!"

Yassen looked like he was going to shout back for a minute, but then; he just sighed and shook his head.

"How can you know that?" He asked heavily, "How can you possibly know what it's like?"

Alex opened his mouth to argue, but then, he closed it. He didn't know.

"You can't answer, can you?" Yassen asked, sounding tired, "You can't tell what it's like. I know what it's like though."

Alex looked over at Yassen; he remembered something Ash had said about the Russian.

'_He crossed the whole of Russia on his own, with no money and no food. He worked in Moscow for a while, living on the street and running errands for the local mafiya.'_

Alex focused back on what was happening when he heard Yassen speaking.

"Life on the streets is terrible," The Russian said quietly. His voice and eyes were far-away. "You are cold, wet and hungry. All the time. You're alone, society hates you and you have no friends. It's worse then that though; it's not just those immaterial sorts of miseries."

Yassen paused for a moment and when he spoke again; his voice was cold and bitter.

"Because of the cold and the wet, you're constantly sick. You can't afford medicine though; even if you do what I did and work with the mafiya there's no money. Many cant cope with life on the streets, they fall to drugs and just downward spiral until they die. For others, AIDS or gang fights are the cause of death."

Alex felt a reluctant twinge of sympathy for Yassen, his life on the streets must have been horrible. Yassen glanced at him, an odd smile on his lips.

"Most die alone, unmissed and unloved by anyone with no one to mourn them. I don't think you want that, do you?"

Alex shook his head slowly, bringing his legs up over the edge. He rested his chin on his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"What other choice do I have?" Alex asked quietly, a little despairingly.

For a minute, it seemed Yassen wouldn't answer. Then, he stirred and glanced over at Alex.

"I'm a terrible Father, Erin will tell you that, I've never been any good at looking after others besides myself, but despite that, I'd rather you stay with me then let you live on the streets and go through what I did for too many years. It's probably a bad idea, but the choice is yours." Yassen trailed off, he seemed unable to tear his gaze from the horizon.

Alex felt shock and confusion sweep through him; he'd been offered a home when he'd thought that that was impossible. Even more startling where the offer was coming from, a man who Alex had been sure despised him. Maybe not.

After the initial shock wore off, the obvious question jumped at Alex with a hungry ferocity; was this even the home he wanted? Alex knew that unlike with Sarov, he really did have a choice in this, he really could say 'no'. But then, he thought of Erin, being able to stay with her for awhile longer. Alex also knew this would be the only home he'd be offered by anyone. Besides, something else Ash had said on the plane came to mind.

'_In a way, the two of you and Yassen had a lot in common… John had a soft spot for Yassen… He really liked him.'_

Alex suddenly knew that if he could trust anyone at the moment, it was Yassen. It wasn't the most comforting thought; after all, the man was his Uncle's murderer. However, Alex knew that protection was protection, and that was what he desperately needed if he was going to survive past this whole ordeal. Alex swallowed and looked over at the Russian.

"If you say no, I'll understand." Yassen said, standing suddenly, "I'd probably say no in your position."

The Russian walked back towards the stairs, obviously heading inside. Just before Yassen disappeared inside, Alex quickly stood.

"I'll stay; I have nowhere else to go after all." He said out loud, with a smile that was slightly bitter.

Yassen turned and faced Alex as he said that. Alex couldn't read the Russian's expression, his face and eyes were unfathomable as usual, but Alex thought that for a split second, he saw something like satisfaction there. Yassen smirked suddenly.

"At least know I don't have to worry about you doing something stupid again." He said dryly, holding the stairs door open as Alex walked over.

"Trying to help Jack was stupid?!" Alex asked, glaring at the Russian.

"Yes, stupidly noble. That's the sort of thing that gets people killed." Yassen agreed, "Don't concern yourself though; I'll make sure that reckless nobility is replaced by an unmitigated belief in self-preservation."

"So in other words, you'll make sure I learn how to be the most selfish coward out there?" Alex asked sceptically, following Yassen down the stairs.

The Russian laughed.

"Call it what you like, it means you live longer!"

Alex shook his head, but didn't reply. As he followed Yassen down the stairs, a thought came to mind.

'_Well, I hate to admit it, but I just bonded with Yassen. Just great, I swore I was going to do my best to drive him mad and I just bonded with him.'_

Alex was tempted to groan out loud at that. Then, another thought popped up.

'_Geez, what an odd sort of bonding!'_

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**The review button is looking and smiling at you :)**


	39. Figuring it All Out

**Chapter 36, Figuring it All Out…**

**Sorry, SORRY I haven't updated in so long! I've been busy and lazy! And I apologize for the lack of action in this chappie. However, you FINALLY discover what Liberty's big evil weapon is in this chappie, so that makes up for the lack of action a LITTLE doesn't it???? RIGHT?!?!?! Anyway, there will be some Alex action in the next chappie or some time soon anyway. Yay Alex action!**

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**Disclaimer: -sits and sulks- mumble...mumble...not mine... -waves you onwards-**

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Alex didn't say much when he and Yassen walked back into the apartment, although he did wonder about all the bags on the kitchen counters.

"Food." Yassen explained, displaying a knack for single word answers.

Alex nodded and looked around for Erin. She popped up from the couch.

"So are you all over your emo moment?" She asked cheerfully, coming up to him. Yassen shot his daughter a sharp look. Erin shrugged unapologetically.

"Just asking." She said. Yassen looked like he was going to reprimand her, but Alex intervened.

"It's okay, I don't mind." He muttered, trying not to make eye contact with either of them. After a moment of hesitation, Yassen gave a nod.

"Alright. I have to go back out, the same rules apply. Only this time, could you please find a method of entertainment that doesn't involve making a mess and near injury?"

Erin frowned at her Father.

"You were just out!" She whined, "And what are we supposed to do whilst you're gone?"

Yassen looked very close to rolling his eyes.

"I have to attend to some things, I actually came back early because I was having premonitions of the two of you doing things like setting the place on fire. As for what you do, I don't care so long as it's not stupid or dangerous. Or both. You're a creative pair, you'll think of something."

Erin looked grumpy, but didn't argue. She merely produced a set of keys from her pocket and tossed them to Yassen. Although taken by surprise, the Russian caught them expertly out of habit.

"I don't recall giving these to you." He remarked dryly, heading to the front door. Erin grinned.

"You didn't" she said, "You hid them under the sink."

Yassen shook his head but didn't reply. He slipped out the door and after a second, Alex heard the sounds of footsteps on the stairs.

In the sudden silence he turned to Erin.

"How did you know they were hidden there?" He asked, slightly amused. Erin shrugged.

"I dunno, it just seemed logical to me to find a set of keys there. He really doesn't like me knowing where the car keys are, I _borrowed_ a car once from the streets when I was twelve. When the police asked me how I'd started the car, I had to explain I'd pick pocketed the keys. Yassen wasn't amused at having to get me out of custody. He said later it was clever of me to get the keys without being caught though." She said nonchalantly, shrugging a little. Alex noticed she was doing as he'd asked and referring to Yassen by name.

"Borrow?" Alex asked sceptically, a slight grin on his face.

"Yes, _borrow_." Erin agreed, "I was gonna put it back. Minus a little fuel of course."

"Of course," Alex laughed, "Heaven forbid you should do something as terrible as _steal_ a car!"

Erin smirked and walked over to the kitchen where the counters were still covered in bags.

"Help me put this stuff away, otherwise we'll both be subjected to a sarcastic 'you were obviously too busy to put anything away' followed by whatever punishment is deemed necessary at the time."

Alex was tired, but he didn't argue. He walked over and helped Erin pull everything out of the bags and stuff it wherever there was space in the cupboards. Admittedly, it was a little odd to open the cupboard with all the mugs in it and dodge falling vegetables, but they couldn't be bothered to do anything more sophisticated then that.

"So guess what," Alex said suddenly, shoving a container of instant coffee into the fridge.

"What?" Erin asked, eyeing a cupboard that wouldn't close with an evil eye.

"Um, you're going to have to put up with me for a little longer then what you probably thought." Alex said cryptically, flinching as Erin savagely kicked the cupboard door closed.

"Huh? What the hell does that mean?" Erin asked, distracted by the way the cupboard door had swung open again.

"Well, what did you think I was going to do for housing for the immediate future?" Alex asked, a little disappointed at how hard Erin was making this.

"I dunno, grandparents or a cousin?"

"Well, I don't have any other family. I was going to go for it on the streets, but Yassen, being the humanitarian he is, decided I was staying here. Until further notice."

For a couple of seconds, Erin was silent. She simply stood staring at Alex with raised brows. Just when Alex thought he was going to have block out angry curses, he had the breath crushed out of him.

"That's great!" Erin trilled, scaring the hell out of Alex as she tightened the bear hug she'd inflicted upon him, "Now I don't have to shut my conscience up when it starts sending me mental images of you sitting begging for change on the street!"

"Begging for change?" Alex laughed, managing to loosen Erin's choke-hold on him.

"Hey! I don't know what people do when they live on the streets!" Erin countered.

Alex just smirked and looked around the apartment.

"So what can we do that's not stupid and or messy?" He wondered out loud. His gaze fell on the television. Erin noticed his expression.

"I can't find the remote to it." She said, looking regretful.

"So?" Alex laughed, "Just press the button on the actual TV!"

"Yeah, but what if we have to change the channel?" Erin asked, pouting.

"Then we get up and press the button on the TV!" Alex said, rolling his eyes, "It's not that hard!"

Erin pouted again, but didn't complain as Alex walked over to the television and switched it on. Some sort of sitcom was on. It wasn't particularly funny and it didn't have the best of acting, but it diverted Alex from his thoughts, which was what he so badly wanted. For an hour, Alex and Erin sat in the dark, seemingly mesmerized by the flickering, glowing screen in front of them. They were so immersed in the television that both of them nearly fell from their seats from shock when the door opened.

Yassen looked at both of their shocked faces with raised brows. Alex noticed the Russian had a sports bag. He hadn't had it when he'd left the apartment and Alex was having all sorts of suspicious thoughts about the bag. It seemed Erin was of the same opinion.

"That so has a gun in it." Erin said out of the blue, smirking to herself.

"Jumping to conclusions aren't you?" Yassen asked lightly, a slight frown on his face. The Russian's daughter shrugged.

"Well, am I wrong?" She asked.

"No." Yassen laughed, "You know you're not."

Alex was about to make a smart remark when the music for the beginning of the evening news chimed on the television. Erin glanced over at the TV and Yassen took his leave.

"I have some things to do, so leave me alone for an hour or two." The Russian said bluntly, walking into his bedroom.

Alex didn't pay much attention; he was too busy watching the news. It didn't look like there was going to be any sort of report at what had been happening today, the first item on screen was a report on an anti-nuclear committee's demonstration overseas. Alex was only half paying attention when suddenly; something came to mind as he watched a middle aged woman whining on screen.

"We will not tolerate the danger of nuclear power!" The woman snarled on screen, "We have written letters to several agencies…"

That was when Alex's memory kicked in. A particular line from a paper in Michael Markell's apartment came to his mind.

'…_Liberty reports indicate that the Nuclear-Bio Synthesis is successful thus far and the appropriate contact has been made with multiple international agencies...'_

"Shit!" Alex exclaimed suddenly. Erin looked up in surprise.

"What?" She asked, raising a brow at Alex's expression.

"I have to ask Yassen something!" He said tersely, standing quickly. Erin stood as well, shaking her head.

"He said to leave him alone, and that's what he meant!" She said, "He'll be pissed if you bother him!"

"I know that, but it's important!" Alex countered, walking forward. Before Erin could argue further, he knocked on Yassen's door. It was opened almost immediately.

"That was considerably less then an hour or two."

Alex winced, but went on regardless.

"Do you know what nuclear-bio synthesis is?" He asked quickly, ignoring the way Erin was staring at him like he suddenly grown tentacles. Yassen was giving him similar looks.

"Why do you want to know?" The Russian asked, frowning slightly.

Alex thought about it for a second.

"Because," He said slowly, "When we were in Markell's apartment, I read something about Liberty working on it. I think it's important."

Yassen looked slightly skeptical, but he cooperated never the less.

"You know what nuclear means I'm sure," The Russian said, "Maybe you didn't know that 'bio' refers to something living?"

Alex felt a little insulted.

"Of course I knew that!" He sniffed, "Biology is the study of living things, and bio-warfare…" Alex trailed off as a sudden, terrible thought came to mind. Yassen noticed his dawning realization.

"And bio-warfare is when you use harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses to attack the opposing side." Yassen finished, looking a little less skeptical now.

Alex was still a little confused though.

"Than what does 'synthesis' mean?" He asked, not exactly sure he truly wanted to know. Erin answered.

"It means a fusion or a mixture," She said slowly, "But I don't understand what it would all mean together. I mean, it makes sense to use nuclear OR biological agents in an attack, but not together, wouldn't it just sorta be superfluous?"

"Not to Hienler it wouldn't." Yassen said darkly, more to himself then out loud. Alex caught it anyway.

"That name again!" He growled, "That _fucking_ name again!"

Needless to say, this display of less then civil language caused both Yassen and Erin to raise their brows. Alex noticed their expressions.

"Sorry, but I've been trying to figure out _where_ I've heard or seen that name for _hours_ now and it's driving me mad!" Alex exclaimed.

Yassen looked amused for a second, but his smile quickly disappeared as he answered Alex's unvoiced question.

"Hienler is the leader of Liberty," The Russian said bluntly, "You saw his name in the cabin in Poland. Remember, you asked about him?"

"Not really," Alex said dryly, "Being dosed up on poisonous drugs tends to cloud the mind a little."

Yassen looked momentarily abashed.

"I didn't know they were poisonous if you remember correctly." He said stiffly, "Anyway, aren't we past childish sniping like that?"

Alex made a face but nodded.

"Okay, just tell me who Hienler is and explain what you know about all this." He said slowly, struggling to understand everything.

"Hienler is a Belgian by birth," Yassen said blandly, "But he only lived there for a couple of years. He's lived in Germany, South Africa, India and various countries in the Middle-East. It's hard to get any information about him, but what information there is, he's been controlling it."

"Sounds like he's a bit anti-social." Alex mused out loud, "Go on."

"He set up Liberty during the eighties, but it was relatively unheard of until the nineties when it started branching out and looking for attention. Hienler is egotistical; he likes people to know he's the one who organized the bomb or the armed raid."

Alex was a little suspicious about all this.

"He set up a whole terrorist organization on his own?" He asked, eyes narrowed.

Yassen hesitated.

"Not completely on his own, he had some help from another organization who were still fairly new themselves."

Alex closed his eyes for a moment.

"Scorpia." He sighed, opening his eyes again.

"Yes." Yassen agreed, looking a little grim. "I thought you'd react like this."

Alex looked at the Russian sarcastically.

"Considering they betrayed me and put a bullet in my chest and then went and did the whole thing with Ash, how exactly _do_ you expect me to react?"

"I didn't say you were reacting badly," Yassen said, a little frostily, "I was just saying I'm not surprised you're upset."

"Upset is a slight understatement, but never mind that. What is Liberty up to?" Alex said wearily, gesturing with one hand. Yassen did so after a grimace.

"Hienler and Liberty have been responsible for a vast amount of crime and terrorism all over the world, including high ranking assassinations, sabotage, drugs smuggling and global terrorism. They're currently specializing in supplying weaponry and expertise to terrorists all over the world. In return, Hienler receives immense amounts of money and equipment which goes towards expanding Liberty."

Erin raised a brow at that.

"That's quite a track record." She said dryly, "So what are they up to now, MI6 said they'd grabbed uranium, a whole bunch of scientific stuff and that they'd also managed to get their hands on some bio-engineering equipment."

"I didn't know that!" Alex yelped indignantly, "They never told me they'd got bio-engineering stuff!"

"Well they do," Erin said grimly, "But let's just listen to the expert shall we?"

Yassen smirked at the 'expert' thing, but didn't hesitate in continuing.

"When I was contacted for the job, I wasn't told much. However, a little investigating turned up some interesting details: Liberty was looking into bio-warfare. However, what was most interesting was that the viruses they'd received from Scorpia were being worked on to be resistant to radioactive material, but still carry the uranium particle."

Suddenly, a brain wave hit Alex. A terrible realization dawned on him.

"Oh shit, I think I know what they're doing!" He gasped, "They want to be able to nuke a place, and have not only a whole area contaminated with radioactive material, but they want the area to be infested with a virus that'll be picked up by the wind along with the fallout and spread not only the virus, but the uranium particles it's carrying! And the whole time, it'll just be infecting people non-stop…"

Erin was wide-eyed.

"Oh my god, is that what they were doing?!" She whispered, looking shocked. Yassen nodded slowly. Suddenly, a fragile hope occurred to Alex.

"But Wolf and his team blew Poland sky high!" He said, "MI6 said that Liberty's whole operation relied on Poland!"

Yassen shook his head.

"No, that was a rumor that Hienler circulated to see if MI6 would pick up on it. He wanted to see if agencies around the world were aware what he was up to. When MI6 attacked, they let Liberty know that they were onto them. Poland was just a decoy; Liberty is completely international; you can't destroy the organization by just destroying one plant."

For a second, Alex didn't react. Then, he groaned and sat down on the arm of one of the chairs and put his head in his hands.

"Just fantastic," He muttered, "Just bloody fantastic!"

Erin hesitatingly put a hand on Alex's arm.

"I don't understand why this is such a problem." She said timidly, "Why should this bother us?"

"It might not bother you two," Alex said, voice muffled because he hadn't taken his head out of his hands, "But this sucks for me because I now know that I'm probably going to have to get involved with Liberty for MI6."

Obviously, this didn't go down to well with either Yassen or Erin. However, as Alex had predicted, Erin's response was a lot more aggressive.

"Are you an ass or something?" She demanded, "Are you that stupid and that much of an ass that you think you can just go waltz up to Liberty or MI6 or whoever and expect to come waltzing back in one piece?!"

Alex was too shocked by such a wave of aggression that he merely sat with his mouth slightly open, allowing for Yassen to interrupt.

"Alex, you can not genuinely think that you can involve yourself with MI6 again after all this!"

Alex scowled and tried not to pout.

"Didn't you hear what Blunt said?" He asked, speaking slowly in order to control his temper, "If I don't do what they want they hunt down everyone I know or care about. Don't you know what it's like to think I could be responsible for countless deaths?!"

It was only after Yassen sat staring at Alex flatly for a second or two that the teen realized what a dumb question that was.

"Under slightly different circumstances, yes I do know what that it like Alex, and to be quite honest, it hasn't bothered me once in all the years I've done my job. The money usually gets rid of any misgivings." The Russian said, voice containing a mixture of sarcasm, amusement and exasperation. Alex wasn't at all subdued by it. Well, maybe just a little.

"Well, it does bother me!" He growled, "I happen to have a slight problem with killing people!"

"With that attitude, I'm betting you don't survive a week on the run." Erin muttered, more to herself then to Alex. He glared at her never the less.

"You can't go back to MI6," Yassen said decisively. Alex knew from the Russian's tone that if he tried to argue, it would be Poland all over again.

"Well, I can't let my friends die either." Alex snarled, through tightly clenched teeth. "And that's non-negotiable."

For awhile, Alex and Yassen just glared at each other, prompting Erin to roll her eyes and stalk off muttering sarcastic things like 'the male ego is _such_ a terrific thing'. Finally, and to Alex's surprise, Yassen looked away first.

"You are going to be the death of me!" The Russian snapped, looking suspiciously close to sulking.

"Why's that?" Alex asked sweetly, sensing an oncoming victory.

"Because, I promised I'd protect you to the best of my ability, however inadequate that may be. Unfortunately for me, that will mean going along with what you want." The Russian growled, looking furious.

"I love winning!" Alex crowed, smirking. Then, the full extent of it all crashed over him. He suddenly realized that Yassen had been right, he couldn't go back to MI6. There was, however, an alternative.

"How long do I need to be on a phone to be traced?" Alex asked thoughtfully, scratching at his half healed rib idly. Yassen thought about it for a split second.

"I'd say a minute and longer is risking being detected."

"Good, I shouldn't be that long." Alex said grimly, "Now, I need a phone."

* * *

**Ooooo, semi-cliffie ending. I PROMISE I'll update sooner this time!**


	40. Following the Rules

**Chapter 37, Playing by the Rules**

**Hey, sorry I haven't been updating recently! This chappie is really long though, so I reckon that's not too bad of a tradeoff. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine contrary to popular self-belief.**

* * *

Mrs. Jones was busy being stressed and pacing by the window in her office when the phone rang. Curiously, she glanced at it. She wasn't expecting any calls; a lot had been put on standby until the Liberty crisis was dealt with. Undecided, she approached her desk and bit her bottom lip. The ringing didn't stop, so she made a snap decision and jabbed the hands free button on the phone.

"Tulip, it's Hutchinson."

Mrs. Jones cocked her head interestedly. Hutchinson worked in communications, on the 4th floor. She had no clue why he'd called.

"Yes?"

Hutchinson paused, seeming wary of giving the purpose of his call. Mrs Jones coughed pointedly and the man nervously spoke.

"We just got a call from one of our field numbers. Are you familiar with what that means?"

Mrs Jones scowled at the phone, stress making her unusually touchy.

"Yes I do know what that entails," She snapped, "They are numbers given to field agents in order to contact us directly in times of emergency."

"Um, okay," Hutchinson said meekly, "Well, we just got a call from a field number. It's an older one, but it still came through. Whoever is on the other end demanded to speak to you but not Blunt. We're keeping him on the other line."

Mrs Jones' brows knitted in perplexity. To the best of her knowledge, none of her agents should be calling on a field number. This was highly odd, even without factoring in the callers refusal to speak to Blunt.

"Well, who's calling?" She asked impatiently, walking over to the window again. She drummed her fingertips against the cool glass as Hutchinson quickly checked. When his answer came, his voice was weak and uncertain.

"He gave his name as Cub."

Mrs Jones felt her body tense. Her office seemed to lurch for a second, but she realized that she'd actually stumbled forwards a step.

"W-what???" She gasped, at a loss for what to do. Luckily, Hutchinson seemed to pick up on her emotions.

"I'll transfer you over to his line. I'll also record the call and put tracking protocol into action as well." The man said gently. Then, there was a click as the lines were transferred.

Silence as cold and hostile as the tundra greeted Mrs Jones.

"Alex?"

* * *

Alex was getting impatient, waiting for the impossibly slow MI6 operative on the line to connect him to Mrs Jones. Leaning against the countertop where the hands free phone was placed, he tapped his fingers against the bench crossly. Yassen watched from across the kitchen, arms crossed and an impenetrable expression on his face. Alex felt a wave of annoyance.

"What is taking so long?!" He hissed through clenched teeth, "They could be tracking this right now!"

Yassen shook his head.

"No, you won't be tracked until Jones is put on."

Alex glared at the Russian, annoyance and worry was making him take his anger out on whoever was closest. Luckily for him, it wasn't Erin who was closest. She took being griped at with considerably less grace then her Father.

"How would you know?" Alex asked Yassen scathingly, tapping harder and harder against the bench. The Russian shrugged, maintaining his composure. He was making good on his decision to go along with what Alex wanted.

"Trust me; they won't be tracking the call yet."

Alex opened his mouth to make a scornful comment on the 'trust me' statement, but something odd happened, he actually felt guilty for not doing what the Russian said: trusting him.

'_Oh great, the man has installed some stupid guilt response inside me. I don't know how the hell he does it, but it pisses me off. Come to think of it, everything is pissing me off today….'_

Chagrined, Alex shut his mouth grimly and focused on the job at hand. Just as well, because just then, someone spoke to him.

"Alex?"

Swallowing, Alex clenched the edge of the counter so hard his knuckles turned white. The floor swayed beneath him and he had to take a deep breath in. Yassen looked up sharply, a slight expression of concern combating narrowed eyes and a deep resentment for MI6.

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but he found that it was harder then he'd thought; his mouth was dry and an unexpected burst of cold ferocity was clawing at his insides. This woman was no better then the man who had shot Jack, their whole organization and every one of its employees were to blame.

Glancing at Alex, Yassen seemed to realize the teen needed a moment. He took over quickly.

"Alex is here." The Russian said, automatically adjusting his tone to sound cool and disinterested. "He's just temporarily incapacitated."

An answer came quickly, and as predicted, it was an unfriendly one.

"I presume I'm speaking to Mr Gregorovich then."

Yassen resisted the urge to smirk at the phone.

"You presume correctly." He replied, no small amount of derision colouring his words.

"I was under the impression I would be speaking to Alex." Mrs Jones said through the phone. Alex looked up at this and nodded.

"You are, I'm here now." He said, surprised by how hoarse and rough he sounded. Everything that had happened lately was starting to catch up with him. Never the less, he couldn't afford any more time to pull himself together. The timer on the phone measured the call time at half a minute, he had the same amount of time left to make his point before they ran the risk of being traced.

"I am not going to come back;" He said quickly, "Killing Jack doesn't change that at all. However, I know you will do as you threaten and kill more and more innocents, so I've come to a decision: I will do what you want of me, but on my own terms and away from MI6 control. If you want me to help you, I'll need what information and assistance you can give me. I will pick it up from you tomorrow at midday at the intersection of Thorney and Horseferry. One car with two agents only, make sure they're parked at the kerb. Connect them to this number. I'll be watching and if I see any snipers or backup or _anything_, Liberty finds out what you're up to. Got that?"

There was a pause. Then,

"Thorney and Horseferry, two agents in one car only. Got that."

"Good," Alex grunted. Then, he hung up and put his head in his hands.

"Will this work?" He asked out loud, feeling oddly drained.

Yassen shrugged.

"It might but then again, it might not. It just depends on how you plan this." He said calmly, annoying Alex with his unwillingness to give a definite answer to his question.

Alex sighed and stood up properly.

"You know, I think I liked it better when you were an asshole." He growled, "It would make things so much easier."

"And why's that?" Yassen asked, a tiny smirk crossing his face.

"Because," Alex said, restraining his temper, "At least then you just did what needed to be done whether or not I liked it. Know you won't do anything but stand there and watch me get in way over my head."

Yassen raised a brow.

"You could ask for help."

Alex scowled.

"I could." He agreed reluctantly, "In fact, I will. Will you help me with this?"

"Of course, I was going to anyway because you quite frankly, are making a hopeless mess out of this."

Alex resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall.

* * *

Most of the snow that had fallen on London had melted, but it was still bitterly cold. Alex's breath came out in cloudy bursts. He was freezing; he was still wearing the same clothes he'd been bought to hide on the Huxley building rooftop: a long sleeved shirt and a pair of cargo pants. He didn't have a jacket.

Yassen noticed his shivering and frowned at him.

"You need to get better clothes," The Russian mused, "You're going to end up sick if you don't."

Alex grunted and wrapped his arms around himself, hampered by the sports bag he was carrying. Next to him, Erin was shivering too.

"Can we please keep moving?" She asked, looking up and down the street they were on. Despite the cold weather, it was busy with pedestrians. Yassen nodded and they moved quickly down the street. All three were careful to keep a low profile, although Yassen had said that MI6 would be foolish to risk them notifying Liberty.

After a couple of minutes, they reached a spot where a small alley branched off from the main thoroughfare. Alex paused by it.

"Is this the place?" He asked, pretending to tie his shoelaces so he didn't attract attention. Yassen nodded.

"Yes, this is it." The Russian affirmed, leading the way down it. Alex followed, frowning slightly as a question occurred to him.

"How do you know London so well?" He asked suspiciously.

Yassen glanced at him.

"I'm here more often then what you or MI6 would believe," The Russian said nonchalantly, "There are a lot of jobs for people like me in this city."

Alex wasn't convinced.

"But MI6 has its HQ here!"

Yassen shrugged.

"So? That doesn't concern me. It's actually not that hard to stay undetected here. They never knew I was in London at the same time as Sayle…" The Russian paused, "Well, they didn't until you _told_ them of course."

Alex had to laugh at that.

"Even then, it didn't make a difference." He pointed out, just as Erin spoke.

"The reminiscing is touching," She hissed, "But can we put a raincheck on it please…We have company!"

Alex opened his mouth to berate her for sounding like a cheesy action movie when he caught sight of the figure leaning against the wall further on down the alley. It was a girl, maybe a year or two older then Erin. She stared at the three of them like they were nutters.

'_Which_,' Alex thought wryly to himself, '_really isn't too far off the mark'_

"Don't stop on my account," She said dryly, "The alley is here for everyone."

Erin narrowed her eyes, obviously not sure what to make of the girl. Alex wasn't sure either. The girl wasn't filthy, but she looked like she hadn't been indoors for awhile though. She was wearing a well worn pair of jeans and a skimpy V-neck shirt that left her arms bare to the cold and a battered messenger bag, all of which were slightly stained. Looking at her suddenly gave Alex an idea.

"Hey, what's your name?" He asked, trying to sound friendly and non-threatening. The girl looked suspicious anyway.

"Lisa, what's it to you? And what's your name?!" She asked slowly, eyes flickering between him and Yassen.

"I'm Alex. Lisa, do you want to make 50 Euro quick and easy?" Alex asked carefully, ignoring the looks he was getting from both Yassen and Erin. Lisa looked disgruntled.

"You better not be saying what I think you are, coz I'm not that sort-"

Alex winced and cut her off with a shake of the head.

"No!" He said with wide eyes, "That's not what I mean! All you've got to do is pick up something from a couple of…friends for me!"

Lisa looked interested, but not totally convinced.

"What sort of friends?" She demanded, running a hand through her long, obviously dyed black hair. "Drug dealers?"

Erin rolled her eyes at that.

"Not quite."

"Thieves? Kidnappers?" Lisa shook her head as she realized that neither of her ideas were correct. She frowned and looked annoyed at being unable to guess correctly.

"Or maybe you're a spy picking up top secret plans or something!" She growled, clearly being sarcastic. At least, it was sarcasm until she caught sight of Alex's expression. Her face fell slightly.

"Oh my god!" Lisa gasped, "That's it, isn't it?! You three are like, terrorists or something!"

Erin scowled.

"We're not terrorists!" She growled, "We're just not law abiding citizens either. Now, are you gonna help us or not?"

Lisa pouted.

"Not for 50 Euro." She said bluntly, "100 or nothing, and if you try to coerce me into helping or anything, I'm gonna scream my head off!"

Yassen raised a brow at that.

"What makes you think we'd 'coerce' you?" He asked.

Lisa scowled at the Russian.

"You obviously haven't looked in a mirror lately." She said to him succinctly, "Now, do we have a deal?"

Alex looked over at Yassen; the Russian was the one with the money.

"Alright." He agreed, seeming a little reluctant.

Satisfied, Lisa turned to Alex. She seemed to trust him more then the other two. Alex wasn't surprised.

"So what do I have to do?" She asked, warming up to her task.

"Well, first of all, you have to do exactly as I tell you!" Alex ordered, "Otherwise everything turns to shit and we're all dead. Understand?"

Lisa nodded with wide eyes. Alex knew that MI6 wouldn't really kill her, but he figured that the girl could probably use a little inspiration so she did the job right. The threat of death provided that motivation nicely.

"Okay, first things first, I need you to wear this," Alex commanded, taking a Bluetooth earpiece from Yassen. Turned out the Russian had picked up more then just guns when he'd been out last night.

Lisa took the earpiece with slightly grubby hands. She inserted it into her right ear and arranged her hair so it couldn't be seen. Alex watched approvingly, the girl was brighter then he'd thought.

"I'll give you instructions through that," Alex said, "But whatever you do, don't-"

"-Keep touching my ear?" Lisa smiled, "Don't worry; I've seen the spy movies, touching my ear means people will know I'm wearing a wire, right?"

Alex nodded, trying to appear encouraging.

"Yeah, good job. Now, I want you to walk to the corner of John Islip Street and Horseferry Road, Okay? Do you know where that is?"

Lisa considered it for a split second.

"Yeah, it's near that park and where John Islip intersects with Page Street?"

Alex nodded again, feeling like a bobble head.

"Yes. Now, I want you to walk there and look like you're tying your shoelaces or something. Just stay there, not attracting attention until I give you further directions, okay?"

Lisa nodded, looking like an excited puppy.

"Okay, no problem. I've got a mobile; I'll pretend to take a call from that."

"Good idea, now go! Take your time getting there though, don't run or you'll attract attention!"

Lisa hesitated, gave a nod, and then walked out of the alley. As soon as the girl was out of earshot, Yassen turned to Alex.

"You do realize the girl will probably just use the money to buy drugs?" He asked deprecatingly, moving further down the alley. Alex shrugged.

"Yeah, but she may be smart and use it to buy food or something." He countered. Erin laughed humourlessly.

"Do you always believe the best of people?" She asked, not unkindly. Alex shook his head.

"No, I didn't believe the best of you." He ribbed, dodging as Erin took a swing at him.

"I'm beginning to think you've both forgotten the seriousness of the situation." Yassen said, pausing. There was a fire escape in front of them.

"Of course not!" Alex protested, "I'm the very picture of seriousness!"

The Russian didn't bother replying; he merely climbed up onto the fire escape and turned back, helping Alex and Erin up as well. The two teens followed the Russian up the fire escape and onto the roof of the building. From there, they could see the intersection of Thorney and Horseferry with the help of a couple of pairs of binoculars.

Watching carefully, Alex saw Lisa half trotting down the street. She looked slightly nervous, but otherwise calm and collected. Like she'd been instructed, she paused on the corner of John Islip and Horseferry. She took a battered mobile phone out of her pocket and began pressing buttons on it, looking like any teenage girl using the text feature of her phone. Smiling slightly, Alex took another Bluetooth set from Yassen and quickly connected it to the girl's, choosing the loudspeaker option.

"You're doing well so far." He said. On the street, Lisa jumped slightly.

"Careful!" Alex reprimanded, "Covert remember?"

"Sorry," Lisa said sheepishly, "I just got a surprise. It won't happen again."

Alex pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"Okay," He agreed hesitantly, "Now I need you to do something. Not far from where you are, Horseferry intersects with Thorney. Can you see the intersection?"

"Yes, I can."

"Good," Alex said, "Now tell me something, can you see the car parked at the intersection? It's a black one."

Through the binoculars, Alex saw Lisa take a couple of subtle steps forward and take a look.

"Um, yeah. It's got two men inside." She said, sounding doubtful of her own ability. "Am I right?"

"Yes Lisa, you're right," He half sighed, "Now, I want you to walk down to that car, tap on the glass and say 'I'm supposed to collect something for Cub'."

"Cub?" Lisa asked, "That sounds like a military name. I thought you people weren't military?"

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"_I_ was. Note the emphasis on the past tense. Anyway, just do what I tell you."

Alex half winced at that, he hadn't meant to sound quite so petulant. It seemed Lisa wasn't impressed either because she didn't reply, she just stalked towards the car and before Alex could protest, smacked hard on the window.

* * *

Matthew McWilliams was on edge. This whole operation was a weak attempt to restore MI6's control over a hopelessly bungled situation. What was worse, this whole situation was partly due to a fifteen year old who'd somehow managed to team up with the world's most wanted assassin.

Next to him, Douglas Grummet was staring out the window. The man was about 10 years older then Matthew, who was 35 himself, and was accordingly much more mature. The man hadn't moved from his position in the entire hour that they'd been parked here.

If they'd intended to play by Alex's rules, it wouldn't have been necessary to have arrived an hour early. However, they had no intention of playing by the rules, especially not with so much at stake.

'_This is ridiculous, we should be working on the Liberty crisis ourselves, not wasting time trying to force a teenager to do it for us!'_ Matthew thought irritably, thoroughly frustrated by the whole thing. He began to fidget; bored by the constant immobility he was supposed to be participating in alongside his partner.

Douglas glanced over at Matthew. The older man was irritated by the situation as well, but he found it amateurish to act in the manner the younger man was. They were supposed to be professionals after all.

"You should relax Matthew." He said, hoping that his words would subtly tell his partner that the fidgeting was pissing him off. They didn't.

"I'm frustrated, not worried." Matthew shot back, obviously in a bad mood, "This whole thing is a shit-fight, they're gonna be smart enough to know what we'll be up to, the kid will get someone else to do the pickup. He'll split as soon as his lackey does the dirty work."

Douglas didn't bite back; he merely shrugged and continued watching their surroundings.

"That's why we have the snipers and field agents. That's why we're in a car, not on foot."

His partner opened his mouth to argue, but he was interrupted as there was a hard pounding on the Matthew's window. Startled, the younger man jumped and drew his weapon.

"Son of a bit-"

Then he noticed that it was a girl and a slightly dirty looking one at that.

"Bloody hell!" Matthew hissed, "Wench! She could've knocked!"

Douglas shot his partner a glare.

"She's probably either a lost tourist or a beggar. Either that or she's a druggie. No problem for us, so put your bloody gun away!"

Matthew did so reluctantly and pressed the button for his window. It rolled down with a high pitched whirring noise. Now he had no bullet-proof shield.

"You right love?" Matthew asked, trying to sound like he hadn't been close to peeing himself from shock two seconds ago. It worked, although he ended up sounding cockier then he'd meant. The girl had looked pissed to start with, but now she looked downright rebellious.

"I'm fine you arsehole!" She snapped, "But I'm supposed to pick something up for a 'cub'?"

Immediately, Matthew stopped the wisecracking and Douglas stiffened. Their superiors had been right, the kid had arranged for someone else to come do the pickup. Which was good for him, because Matthew had been looking forward to using the new dart gun he'd been issued.

"Where is he?" Matthew asked slowly, whilst Douglas rummaged in a bag for the package. The girl scowled.

"None of your fuckin' business is it?" She snarled, "Besides, I'm getting' well paid for this, I ain't gonna screw it up!"

Matthew tried to smile reassuringly.

"Course not love," He said slickly, "Where else are you going to get the quid for your next hit, 'ey?"

The girl went white and she'd been pale to begin with. She clenched her teeth together and it was easy to imagine a fire burning in her eyes.

"You p-presumptuous little fucker!" She hissed through trembling lips. Despite her fury, Matthew could see tears glinting in her mud coloured eyes. He felt little pity for her though, he was in a bad mood and he could inflict it on this girl. Besides, he knew her type from growing up a hoodlum. He hated those memories, and this girl was one.

"Presumptuous?" Matthew asked, pretending to be shocked, "So those marks all over your skinny little arms _aren't_ needle punctures?"

The girl bared her uneven teeth and before anyone could react, spat at Matthew. To her vindictive delight, she hit him right between the eyes.

"You little bitch!" Matthew snarled, lunging forward and grabbing the girl by the neck, "I'll fucking slap you stupid!"

Lisa's bravado faltered. Suddenly, this didn't seem so much like a game or glamorous movie.

* * *

Watching Lisa's progress through the binoculars, Alex winced. Even without being able to hear her every word, he could tell she was screwing everything up.

"Maybe the original plan was a better idea." He said out loud, in a weak voice.

"Maybe." Yassen agreed, sounding both wry and a little annoyed.

Alex gave a non-committal grunt and went back to watching. Suddenly, with shocking speed, the events unfolding before him took a horrible turn for the worse. One of the MI6 agents lunged forward and grabbed Lisa by the throat. She gave a strangled gasp and Alex felt a reluctant stab of worry for her. Behind him, Yassen tensed and watched with narrowed eyes.

"What do we do?!" Alex hissed, running a hand distractedly through his hair. In some small, unoccupied part of his mind, it occurred to him that his hair was getting too long and it needed a cut.

"Nothing, they will have to follow the original plan, this is just a slight detour. Besides, it'll knock some sense into her." Yassen replied, not looking away from the car.

Alex shook his head angrily.

"I can't do that!" He snapped, "I got her involved in all this, I should be the one to get her out."

Yassen shrugged and Alex (correctly) assumed that was an indication of indifference. An idea occurred to him.

* * *

Lisa tried to pull herself free, but the man's grip was like a vice. What had moments before been tears of fury had become tears of terror.

"L-let me go!" She whimpered, wincing as the man slapped her hard across the face.

"No fucking way!" The man spat, "I'm gonna make sure you learn some respect!"

Lisa thought she'd been panicking before, but now she went nuts from fear. At least, she did until she heard the yelling in her ear.

"Fucking fight back!"

Lisa decided right then that listening to Alex might just be in her best interest.

"Put your hands up and poke him in the eye or _something_. Don't just stand there and let him do this to you!!!"

Lisa swallowed and did what she as she was told. Instead of unsuccessfully tugging against her attackers grip, she lunged towards him and smashed her head against his. It hurt like hell, but suddenly she was free.

Dazed, Lisa tottered back. People walking by in the street were giving her odd looks, but she didn't care. Getting rid of the stars in her eyes was a slightly more important matter.

In the car, Matthew managed to fight past the wave of agony that crashed down on him. He was about to go for the girl again, but just then, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. Douglas had grabbed him with one hand and held one of the new issue dart guns in the other.

"Stick to the mission parameters," The older man ordered, glaring at him icily. He passed Matthew a thick, A4 envelope. "Don't make you dart you just because a junkie got to you. HQ would not be impressed with that!"

Matthew wanted badly to disobey, but he knew his partner was right. So, he took the package slowly and turned to face Lisa again. She was wisely keeping her distance and was glaring at him, rubbing her head.

"Toss the package." She told him, still sounding a little scared. Matthew sneered, but did what she asked. The envelope landed at Lisa's feet and she picked it up quickly and took a couple steps back, never removing her eyes from the two MI6 men.

"Go on, we won't hurt you." Douglas said kindly, feeling a little bad for the way Matthew had treated her. Lisa's eyes flickered between the two men for a second before she took off down the street.

After a moment or two, she heard Alex speaking to her through the earpiece again.

"Lisa!"

She ignored him, still scared. She needed to work it off.

For a couple of seconds, this worked and she kept running, but then someone else was talking to her.

"Stop being irresponsible and do as you are told!"

Lisa stopped and scowled, it wasn't Alex talking to her. It was the scary guy that had been with him.

"Put Alex back on!" She snapped, "I'm not taking orders from you!"

There was a pause and Lisa sensed that the man was pushing his temper down. She shivered, that guy scared her and she had no clue why Alex was with him. Maybe he was Alex's Father.

Eventually, she got a reply.

"Yes you will. You will do exactly as you are told, or I will come and force you to. You think that screaming will save you, but I'm afraid that's a misguided hope at best. You see, I know hundreds of ways to get what I want without your cooperation. Trust me; you do not want me to have to resort to that." The man's voice was not particularly harsh and was almost devoid of any sort of emotion, but Lisa shivered.

"O-okay." She swallowed, "I'll do what I'm told, just put Alex back on!"

There was no reply, but Lisa heard a slight scuffling sound. Then, Alex was talking to her.

"Lisa? Okay, you need to keep walking the way you are. Ahead of you, there is a placed called Grosvenor Restaurant. I want you to go there and ask to be seated. Once you've done that, place the package in your bag and leave your bag on the table. I'll give you more instructions once you've done that."

Lisa took a second to absorb everything she'd just been told. It seemed simple enough. The only thing was, she wasn't sure if she'd be allowed in the restaurant in the state she was in. It seemed Alex had the same idea.

"If they won't let you in, say you've been mugged and need a place to call a family member who'll come pick you up. Try to make yourself look traumatized; it'll help your case."

Lisa gave the obligatory agreement and tried to ignore her sarcastic thoughts.

'_**Try**__ to look traumatized??? So nearly being strangled by a guy twice my size doesn't count as being traumatic enough then?' _

With a shake of her head and a long suffering sigh, Lisa started walking towards the restaurant.

* * *

Once he was sure she was doing as she was told, Alex stopped watching Lisa and stood. The next part of the plan was a lot more risky and he needed to be well prepared if it was going to work.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Alex sighed, "Pass me the bag."

Erin did so, looking like she was starting to warm into the task. Alex took the bag and hoisted it over one shoulder. He turned to face Yassen.

"What will you and Erin be doing during this?" He asked, berating himself for not wondering before now.

"We'll be nearby. MI6 may be pretending to be following the rules, but you can guarantee that they'll have agents posted on the ground and probably some on rooftops too. They're going to be looking for you and we're going to try and identify the agents on the ground."

Alex gave a nod, it was a good plan.

"Alright, sounds…workable."

Then, Alex quickly swung himself over the edge of the roof and climbed down the fire escape. The restaurant was very close by, but he still made the journey as fast as he could without attracting attention.

Alex walked straight past the front entrance of the place. Instead, he slipped into a narrow lane that went along the side of the building. Eventually, the lane widened a little to a small area that had a couple of bins and an innocuous door. It was the door that interested Alex.

He pulled it open quietly and slipped through. Immediately, he found himself in a busy kitchen. People were rushing by everywhere, cooking, cleaning and yelling at each other. Alex quickly crouched behind a tower of empty crates that had probably held fruits and vegetables at one point.

After watching the kitchen for a minute or so, something happened. One of the men working in the kitchen came walking towards the door with a large bag of what looked and smelled like garbage in hand. The man passed through the door without noticing Alex.

As soon as the man had gone through, Alex followed. Outside, the man had his back to the teen, busy emptying the garbage into the large bins. Alex snuck up on him, reaching him just as the man straightened and turned around.

The man jumped, but quickly calmed down when he saw what looked like nothing more then a harmless fifteen year old boy in front of him.

"Oh, hello! Can I help you?" The man asked.

Alex smiled.

"You know what, I think you can."

Then, Alex abruptly dropped the smile and brought his fist up fast and hard. It collided with the man's nose and Alex heard it break.

Stunned, the man gave a pained cry and stumbled backwards, hands flailing. Alex thought he had everything under control until the man pulled a kitchen knife from his belt.

"Oh shit." Alex said blankly, eyeing the weapon.

"Oh shit is right you little thug!" The man snarled, nose dripping blood down his shirt. Then, he lunged at Alex.

Alex jumped back, hampered by the bag. The man lunged again, slashing the knife at him viciously. The sharp point skimmed by Alex's face, missing him by mere millimetres. Startled and starting to get pissed off, Alex let his reflexes and instinct take over.

He ducked as the knife came swishing towards him again. Whilst still crouching, Alex's right leg shot out and smashed into the man's left kneecap. The man gave a howl and reared back. Alex then sprung up and brought his fist down hard like a hammer on the hand that held the knife. The man yelped as Alex's fist hit a nerve point and the knife went flying from his grip and clattered to the ground.

Alex wasn't done though, he needed this man unconscious. He then gave a savage punch to the unfortunate man's jaw. Dazed, the man stumbled backwards. Alex didn't give him a chance to recover though; he double checked his balance, tensed and then delivered a strong spin kick that powered into the man's chest. The man was out cold before he hit the ground.

Alex released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Panting a little, he took a step forward and surveyed his unconscious opponent. Some small part of him reflected that it was pretty nasty of him to attack an unsuspecting waiter like that, but then he thought about the knife and scowled. The guy had asked for it.

Shaking his head, Alex turned back to the task at hand. He needed to go into the restaurant to pick up the package from Lisa, but he needed to do it in such a way so that he didn't attract undue attention. In other words, he needed to look like a waiter.

* * *

A couple of minutes later and clad in one unfortunate man's waiter's outfit, Alex slipped back into the kitchen. He kept his head down as he passed through the chaotic room, hoping no one wondered why a waiter was carrying a sports bag. Near the door leading into main part of the restaurant, someone had left a tray of drinks, seemingly waiting to be delivered. Alex picked it up on a whim and swept through the doors with it.

As he walked slowly through the restaurant, Alex reflected that it was harder to balance the heavily laden tray on one hand then it looked. It took him a couple of moments for him to become confident in his ability to do it. Once he was satisfied, he began looking for Lisa.

He spotted her sitting alone at a small table near the front door. Her story of being mugged must have worked then. Alex started towards her, nerves mounting as he realized this was a crucial part of this whole plan. He was so focused on what he was doing; he missed the man wearing an earpiece sitting at the bar.

* * *

As Alex passed through the bar, the man watched his progress closely. The kid may be good, but he was distracted.

"The kid's here," He said, knowing his earpiece would pick his words up, "Permission to activate capture protocol?"

There was a pause. Then,

"Permission granted."

* * *

**Whew, another chappie done! Tell me what you think!!!**


	41. Makes me Wonder

**Chapter 38, Makes me Wonder**

* * *

**I'll admit, this is not one of my better chapters. Sorry, but I wanted the next chappie to be the one that had an awesome action scene in it. So, I'll understand if you hate this chappie.**

* * *

As Alex started towards Lisa, he realized this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought. A woman was waving to get his attention and Alex knew that ignoring her would only attract her attention. It would be so much better if he could just get this over and go skipping on his merry way. Alex snorted.

'_Yeah right, me skipping…'_

So, with a sigh he walked over to her.

"Yes?" He asked, trying not to sound so sullen. The woman was sitting with a couple of friends and smiled at him uncertainly.

"Can we have a couple of coffees over here please?" She asked, glancing over at all her friends.

Alex smiled back half-heartedly.

"Sure thing."

Then, he had an idea.

"Yeah alright, but I should probably warn you, it might be a bit of a wait. There's a minor emergency going on in the kitchen."

The woman looked a little crestfallen at that.

"Oh, that's alright I guess."

Alex nodded.

"Tell you what, when they come I'll make them on the house, okay?"

The woman and all her friends cheered up considerably at that.

"Yeah alright. Cheers!"

Alex turned away with a smile. Idly, he wondered what would happen when they started asking for their 'free drinks'. Then, he turned back to the task at hand.

Alex quickly walked towards Lisa. Without waiting for her to say anything, he set a drink down and straightened up again. He made like he was going to move off, but as he did so, he spoke quickly into her ear.

"Get up and go to the toilet. Leave the bag on the seat."

Lisa gave no sign that she'd heard which was good. Alex moved off and looked for somewhere to put the tray of drinks down; it had been a good idea to use it to blend in, but he was having a lot of difficulty balancing expertly like the other waiters and waitresses.

As Alex turned, someone seemed to appear from nowhere and crash into him. With a startled cry, Alex leapt back but it was too late, the damage was done. He dropped the tray and all the glasses on it fell and shattered against the ground. Alex stumbled and ended up sitting on the ground himself, jagged pieces of shattered glasses everywhere. Several people looked up at the sound. All around him, Alex could hear the mutters and muted conversations concerning the clumsy waiter. It wouldn't be long before people started wondering exactly how old he was and then someone who actually worked here would figure him out.

Pissed off, Alex looked around for the cause of his accident. In front of him, a thirty-something man with long brown hair and brown eyes was doing his best to apologize.

"I am so sorry mate! I didn't see you there and I didn't mean to crash into you! Here, let me help you with this-"

The man crouched down and started trying to push all the broken glass into piles. Gritting his teeth, Alex shook his head.

"Never mind!" He snapped, "It's all broken glass, you can't pick that up using your bare hands! I'll just get someone else to-"

The man smiled uncertainly.

"Oh, alright mate. I'm sorry, really! Here let me help you up!"

Alex scowled, but let the man grab his forearm in a strong grip and heave him to his feet. Once standing, Alex winced; he must have fallen on some of the broken glass because he had several scratches, some of which were stinging quite badly. In front of him, the man was frowning a little.

"Hey, how old are you lad?" He asked, "You look a little young to be working here, accidents like this are why-"

Alex cut him off with a hand motion.

"I'm sixteen," He invented quickly, "I know I look young, but that's my Father's genes for you!"

The man's uncertainty faded at that.

"Alright," He laughed, "Can't help what you look like I guess."

Alex gave a non-committal sort of agreement and turned away. The man seemed to have understood his dismissal because he walked away.

With a sigh of relief, Alex looked around for Lisa. Her table was unoccupied, but the bag was sitting on the table like it was supposed to be.

"Good girl Lisa." Alex murmured to himself, moving towards the table. Quickly, he reached in and pulled out the thick manila envelope. He was just reaching into his pocket to put in the money that they'd promised Lisa when there was an angry exclamation behind him.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Startled, Alex straightened up, dropping the money in the bag. Looking around, he realized that the woman he'd spoken to before was glaring at him angrily. Everyone in the area was staring at them.

"E-excuse me?" Alex asked, blinking uncertainly. He didn't quite understand what was going on here.

The woman's glare intensified.

"You know damn well what I mean!" She snarled.

Confused, Alex shook his head. This wasn't making a whole lot of sense to him. Then, a terrible realization struck him as he registered the way he felt light-headed and everything was swaying just a little.

'_Either I got a concussion from falling or… or, I've been __**drugged**__!"_

Eyes widened with realization, Alex tried to focus on what the woman was saying. It was absurdly hard.

"I d-don't understand…" He trailed off, panicking anew as he realized that his words were slightly slurred. Apparently the woman had realized too, because another layer of disgust was added to her expression.

"Trying to steal a girl's handbag and drunk!" She snorted derisively, "You're done for big time!"

Alex shook his head and stumbled back a step.

"N-no! It's not like that at all!" He said, wincing as once more, his words came out slurred.

Just then, things got a lot worse. A man who could only be considered a manager type emerged from the kitchen, presumably to investigate what was going on. The woman noticed him and seized the opportunity.

"Sir!" She waved to get his attention, "One of your waiters here was trying to steal a girl's bag! I caught him in the act and he's drunk too!"

Confused, the man looked over at Alex who was swaying a little on the spot with his eyes clenched shut, trying to ward off a sledgehammer headache that was suddenly attacking him.

"But…" The manager man paused, obviously perplexed, "But he's not one of mine! He doesn't work here!"

There was a tense silence as the reality of the situation hit everyone in the restaurant. Then, everyone started pulling out mobile phones and crying things like, "I'm calling the police, keep him here!"

With a nod, the manager started towards Alex. He went to grab the teen, but he stopped as he realized that Alex had pulled a gun from the bag he was wearing.

"Please just let me go," Alex murmured, opening his eyes with a wince, "I'm going to leave and I won't hurt anybody so long as you don't try and stop me."

The manager backed off with wide eyes and no one said a word as Alex stumbled back towards the kitchen. He was almost there too when someone seized him from behind. Even in his bad state, Alex lashed out at his attacker. Whoever he was fighting was obviously a trained fighter; Alex was getting the crap beaten out of him.

Desperately, Alex tried to squirm free, but then a hand closed over his hand which was holding the gun. Alex struggled wildly and then, there was a deafening bang. Horrified, Alex realized that his gun had gone off and had hit his attacker. The man had stumbled backwards, and was clutching his chest, seemingly in amazement.

Reeling back in shock, Alex realized that his attacker was the man who'd caused him to drop the tray of drinks. Then, he realized something else with a start, the man was not bleeding; he was wearing a bullet proof vest. MI6 then.

Alex didn't stay for explanations, he bolted for the kitchen. The MI6 man was right behind.

Bursting into the kitchen, Alex's headache was worsened by the way everyone screamed as they saw the gun in his hand. Then, the MI6 agent crashed through the doors behind him and looked around angrily.

Desperate, Alex did the only thing he could think of; he grabbed a huge bag of flour from the stainless steel counter next to him and pegged it at the MI6 agent.

The man ducked, but the bag kept going and crashed into the lit stove. It's a common piece of knowledge that flour becomes very dangerous when exposed to an open flame, so Alex wasn't surprised when the bag exploded and flame went everywhere.

The MI6 agent was hit by the worst of the explosion and was thrown onto the floor. Alex took the opportunity to run for the door leading out into the alley. Unfortunately though, the MI6 agent was back on his feet again and was after Alex snarling low oaths.

Alex was really dizzy now, he only just managed to through the door and a couple of metres down the alley before he stumbled and fell to the ground. Lying on the cold concrete, Alex was a little surprised to find that he was hearing voices.

"Get up and _move_ Rider!"

It wasn't a very friendly voice; Alex decided and groaned, hoping that that would ward the voice away. It didn't work very well, because next thing he knew, another voice had joined the first.

"He hasn't been shot, has he?"

"How the hell should _I_ know, you're closer!"

Feeling a little annoyed, Alex struggled to his knees just as the MI6 agent came barrelling through the kitchen door and into the alley. The enraged man caught sight of Alex and came towards him slowly, taking his time because he knew Alex was in no state to bolt anywhere.

Still, the thought of being caught gave Alex a burst of strength that got him a bit further down the alley. Suddenly, the voices he'd heard made sense, Yassen and Erin were standing on a fire escape on one of the buildings in front of him. Erin was waving at him wildly.

"Come _on_," She shouted, "Over here!"

Alex was tempted to give Erin the finger; her yelling was not helping his headache one bit and he got the feeling she knew it, the cunning wench. He didn't have time though; the MI6 agent was suddenly looming over him and had grabbed him in what was the classic hostage grip. Hollywood was a lot less entertaining when it was happening in real life.

Alex was fed up; he felt terrible and did _not_ appreciate being manhandled by anyone. So, it was with a good deal of gusto he started yelling at Yassen.

"Make yourself useful and get him off me!"

Yassen had climbed down from the fire escape, and was advancing towards them, gun held at head height. The MI6 agent kept shuffling back, holding Alex in front as a human shield.

"I'll shoot the kid," The agent was saying, sounding tense; "I swear to God I'll shoot him."

Yassen smirked and kept moving forward.

"I don't think so; the whole point is to capture him, not kill him." The Russian taunted, sounding remarkably in control compared to the MI6 agent.

"Then why don't you come and get the kid?" The MI6 agent countered, tightening his grip on Alex, "Besides, I'm not above shooting him in the leg. Thing is, I'm no marksman like you, I might hit him in the femoral artery and he'd bleed out in seconds. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Yassen kept moving forward, but Alex saw the tiniest flicker of uncertainty cross the Russian's face. That sent him into a near-panic.

"For fuck's sake get him off me!" He shouted, struggling against his captor with renewed strength. Yassen shook his head.

"I can't do that right now, the man has a point. I can tell just from the way he's walking he's a novice. I don't trust novices."

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Oh for God's sake…"

Then, he gathered what little strength he had and jerked his head back, hard. The MI6 agent had adjusted to handling a weakened prisoner and was taken by surprise. The back of Alex's head smashed into his face and blinding pain overwhelmed the man; he reeled back, dropping the gun. In one fluid movement, Alex reached forward to grab the gun, took aim and shot the man in the leg.

The man gave a howl of pain and crumpled, gripping his leg tightly. Sighing in relief, Alex dropped the gun and relaxed, only to jump in surprise as there was another shot and a bullet embedded itself between the MI6 man's eyes.

Whirling around, Alex saw Yassen surveying his handiwork with a dubious sort of expression.

"Not quite centred enough." The Russian muttered to himself, stowing his gun. Alex stared at him in disbelief. Erin noticed his expression and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah I know, he's overly self-critical, I thought it was a fine shot." She said, scowling at her Father.

Alex shook his head angrily.

"No!" He cried, "That's not what I mean at all! You can't just keep doing that!"

Erin looked confused.

"What? I can't keep doing what?"

"Not you." Alex growled, "Him! He can't just keep killing people!"

Yassen raised a brow at that.

"I just did." The Russian pointed out, sounding suspiciously smug. He was absurdly pleased by his reasoning.

Alex was about to argue, but Erin intervened.

"What the hell is in your arm?!" She demanded, staring at Alex.

Startled Alex held his arm up. There, on his right arm, was a tiny dart firmly lodged in what looked like his bicep.

"Oh, that's how I got drugged." He said stupidly, blinking uncertainly. Erin started at him in disbelief.

"How could you not notice a bloody dart in your arm?!" Erin half shrieked, looking incredulous.

Alex shrugged clumsily as if to declare it of no consequence.

"I had an accident. There was glass…Lots of it… The guy must have got it in me when we collided."

Then, without further ado, Alex yanked the dart from his arm with a wince. Erin looked a little queasy and wrinkled her nose as Yassen took the projectile from Alex.

"It's a hypodermic designed to slow-release a sedative." The Russian said, after taking a quick look at the dart. "Now that it's not in you anymore, your body will work the sedative off very quickly. Until then though, you'll probably be pretty drowsy."

Alex shot the Russian a suspicious look.

"And you know that _how_?"

Yassen shrugged.

"I've used similar models, although I prefer an immediate tranquiliser rather then a slow-release drug."

Alex rubbed his arm idly.

"Why'd they use a slow-release on me?" He asked.

"My best guess would be that they intended to force you into a car, using your weakened state to their advantage. An immediate tranquiliser would have meant that you'd be unconscious and much harder to transport and much more conspicuous."

Alex scowled.

"Bloody MI6." He muttered, "And their stupid little toys."

Yassen laughed and led the way down the alley.

"You got the envelope though?" He asked.

Alex nodded, comforted a little by that thought.

"Yeah," He pulled it out and held it up for inspection, "Lisa did her job well."

Yassen pressed his lips together disapprovingly, but took the envelope without remarking further.

After a couple minutes of silence, they came back onto the main road. The blue Lexus greeted them, sitting by the side of the road like an old friend. Alex frowned at it as they went over to it.

"Haven't they reported this stolen yet?" He asked, opening the door. Erin darted in front of him and climbed in first. He scowled at her and quickly followed.

"No and they won't." Yassen said, "I changed the plates."

Alex blinked in surprise.

"You did?!"

Yassen started the car and quickly pulled out onto the main road.

"Well, I didn't personally," The Russian admitted, "I paid someone to do it for me."

Erin snorted.

"Typical, why do something yourself when you can pay someone else to do it for you."

Yassen shrugged.

"I don't actually carry alternate car plates on my person, believe it or not." He countered, glancing at his daughter through the rear-view mirror.

Erin didn't inconvenience herself with responding; the blonde girl just sniffed and lapsed into staring out the car window.

Next to her, Alex took a little bit of time to quickly do a self-analysis. Yassen had been right, now that the dart wasn't in him, the drug was wearing off quickly and all it was leaving behind was a nasty headache. Alex wished that was the full extent of his injuries.

There were several vicious scratches all over him and one or two bad ones where some splinters of glass had gotten embedded. Wincing, Alex resisted the urge to try and pick the glass out by hand. The last thing he needed was to get glass embedded under his nails.

Glumly, Alex surreptitiously glanced in the rear view mirror. He looked like he'd gone trekking through a forest of rose bushes. Rose bushes who were highly malicious and far more intelligent in their attacks then most other roses. There was no doubt about it; he was going to end up with a couple more scars.

'_That's just great,'_ Alex thought morosely, _'I'm going to end up looking like a rag doll if this keeps up.'_

He sighed, grabbing Erin's attention. The girl looked over and did a double take.

"What the???"

Alex shrugged.

"I told you there was an accident…with glass…"

Erin raised a brow (looking amazingly like her Father for a second which scared the shit out of Alex).

"Some accident, what exactly happened?" She asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Alex quickly relayed the story of what had happened in the restaurant. Erin looked impressed now, and Alex wondered why. He glanced over at Yassen, but the Russian showed no signs that he'd even heard the story. Alex had a shrewd suspicion though that the assassin had been listening though. That suspicion intensified when Yassen glanced at the teen.

"You're bleeding." The Russian remarked mildly.

Alex frowned; the scratches were not that deep.

"I shouldn't be."

"Not a lot. Just your arm and shoulder."

Alex scowled; they were the two places that had fared worst having managed to get glass embedded in them.

"Didn't you say before that there was a first aid kit in this car?" Yassen asked, surprising Alex.

"Yes, I forgot."

"Don't do anything with it now," Yassen instructed, "Wait until we're back at the apartment and then I'll see what needs to be done. Just get the kit out for now."

Alex nodded mutely and began searching for the first aid kit. After a couple of minutes, he realized he couldn't find it. He decided to ask Erin. As he turned, Erin handed him the kit.

"I found it." She said, a tad obviously in Alex's opinion.

Alex took it from her wordlessly and decided that a couple minutes of rest wouldn't go amiss. He smirked once at Erin just to annoy her and then passed out happily.

* * *

Yassen had always been accomplished at multi-tasking, so it was nothing unusual that he was able to drive excellently whilst his thoughts were miles away.

The Russian was slightly perplexed as to how he'd managed to get himself stuck on the run from MI6 with two children _and_ on a mission to destroy the organization who'd mere weeks ago, been his employers.

'_Well_,_'_ he amended; '_With_ _Erin it is a different case altogether as she is __**my**__ child, heaven help me.'_

Then, after a moment's contemplation,

'_Actually, never mind. I don't think heaven will be doing me any favours any time soon.'_

Yassen still wasn't sure exactly how Alex had ended up being involved. True, MI6 sending him to face Liberty had ensured they _encountered_ one another, but it still did not explain how, exactly, the teen was still with him now. Only Alex himself could answer that as it had been his choice and somehow, Yassen didn't think that would be an easily obtainable answer. When it came to Alex, there was very little knowledge that came under the category 'easily obtainable'.

Glancing at Alex through the rear view mirror, Yassen frowned. He had listened to the teen explain his story to Erin and the Russian was angry. No one would ever guess it as he was highly accomplished at masking his emotions, but it was true. Yassen was angry because a child was being used by MI6 to do tasks that they wouldn't risk much older agents on. He was also angry because Alex let them do it; he let them tell him what to do.

Yassen knew that MI6 had used Jack to blackmail Alex, but the Russian didn't accept that as a legitimate reason for Alex to have given in to MI6.

'_He should not have let them use the woman against him,'_ Yassen thought, _'He should have done something to stop them. Even running would have been better then letting them use him time and time again.'_

The Russian had a sneaking suspicion though that deep down, past all the protests Alex made when given a new mission; the teen was addicted to his job and that Alex felt at home when in danger or spying.

'_And that'_, Yassen mused, _'Is the heart of the problem. It's wrong that a child his age should be so used to danger that he is attached to it like an addict is to drugs.'_

The Russian felt the usual disgust as he thought of the way MI6 had exploited that addiction and put Alex in life-threatening situations time and time again.

However, Yassen's conscience (well, what was left of it anyway, the Russian considered the tiny nub a severe annoyance) was shouting 'hypocrite' at him.

'_And what you did today was so much better?'_ It asked snidely, _'You let Alex put himself in danger without so much as a protest. You honestly believe that you are any better then MI6? Besides, as an assassin, you don't have the right to a luxury like self-righteousness.' _

Yassen made a face at that last statement.

"Maybe not, but it's a luxury I will treat myself to, regardless of whether or not it's my right." He muttered to himself, mind flickering to driving as a beat-up car overtook the Lexus without indicating. A scruffy looking boy, older then Alex by a couple of years, was driving and rap music was pounding out of the car.

Watching the boy made Yassen reconsider his earlier thoughts, perhaps running would not have been a good idea for Alex after all. If he had, the teen might have easily ended up like the driver in the other car: a dishevelled victim of society who struggled to make a living every day.

'_In other words, you when you were the same age.'_

That particular thought irked Yassen; the Russian did not appreciate the memories of his childhood and living on the streets. It was something he'd prefer to leave forgotten in the back of his mind, along with countless other thoughts, memories and emotions. Perhaps not very healthy mentally, but it meant he could do his job without fail.

So, Yassen turned his mind to other matters. He glanced at Alex and Erin. Both of them were still recovering from the last couple of weeks and the various injuries resulting from them. When they were back at the apartment, both of them would have to be looked over Yassen decided. He hadn't forgotten that Alex had never received more then a few weeks PT and that Erin had a bullet wound that had barely started healing.

'_Speaking of Erin…'_

Yassen hadn't really spoken or seen his daughter in a couple of years. He knew more or less what she had been doing in that time (He'd kept tabs on her as any responsible Father who was an assassin would have) with the rare exception (like her taking a job from MI6), but it wasn't a satisfactory amount of knowledge. Perhaps face to face communication would have worked better.

Yassen and Erin had been never been particularly close but that had been alright until about four or five years ago. At that time, everything had gone to absolute shit for both of them. It had been a time that neither one of them had dealt with particularly well, but Erin had taken it worse. She'd only been young, but the whole thing had ensured something that Yassen had always tried to prevent: That Erin would turn out like him.

Severely annoyed, Yassen shook his head. All the things he'd done to make sure that Erin was like her Mother….

Yassen tensed at that reflection, it was one he would _not_ allow because he knew the train of thought that would follow. He took a moment to relax and then turned his mind completely to driving. London traffic was obviously much safer then what was going through his head today.

* * *

Erin was angry like usual. She had a good memory, so she knew that she could count the number of time she'd gone more then a day out of the last four or five years without being angry on one hand.

What was worse was that there wasn't anything to be angry at really. That annoyed Erin more then anything, even that her shoulder was paining her again. The fact was Erin needed to be angry to be able to function. If she wasn't angry, then she'd have to start thinking about other things like her memories and then emotions she knew she couldn't control or deal with would take over.

Erin was afraid of losing control. Self-control was something she'd worked for non-stop and the thought of it all being wiped away in a second because she'd opened the Pandora's Box that was her mind terrified her. So, she kept the lid on her emotions, memories and thoughts tightly closed and locked. Erin knew that mental suppression was dangerous and normally that wouldn't have concerned her, but lately she'd been losing that control. She knew that she way paying the price of her cavalier treatment of her mental health.

She knew all this, but whenever therapy was mentioned, it got her back against the wall and her hackles up. Even the thought of someone analysing her and accidentally loosing her inner-demons sent her into a rage, so Erin looked around for a distraction. She saw Alex asleep next to her.

To her shock, the anger evaporated momentarily when her gaze fell on Alex.

'_Shit!'_ Erin thought with widened eyes, _'How the hell did he __**do**__ that?!'_

Just then, Alex stirred and opened his eyes sleepily, having worked off the last of the drug in his system.

"We're still in the car?" He asked, sounding a little put-off.

Erin nodded.

"Some prick caused an accident up ahead. There's a three car pile-up and we're stuck in traffic accordingly."

Alex wrinkled his nose.

"Great."

* * *

Alex was glad to wake from his sleep. As usual, nightmares had haunted him, but they'd taken a new, sinister turn.

_Alex was running through a stark, white corridor that seemed to swallow any sound like a black hole. Alex was breathing heavily, but he only knew it from the way his lungs were straining._

_Suddenly, the corridor was a tunnel and he was running through water that reached his lower shins. At the same time, three men with blank, emotionless faces appeared in front of him and before he could react, they grabbed him. Alex shouted out, but his yell came out warped and it echoed around the tunnel eerily for a long time. Alex struggled against his captors viciously, but they did not seem to feel the blows he dealt. At one point, he managed to free himself of the men, but tripped as he tried to flee. He panicked as he breathed in the water that flooded the ground and was almost glad when one of the men hauled him to his feet._

_Alex blinked and suddenly, he was in a room and someone was threatening him and a gun was pushed into his hands. A little puzzled, Alex glanced at the gun and up at who was yelling at him. It was one of the men that had accosted him in the tunnel. Alex was pushed through a door and into a large, concrete space that was almost like an underground garage._

_There was a line of people in front of him, people that were restrained by handcuffs. With a start, Alex realized he knew all of them. Herod Sayle snarled at him and Alex turned away, only to see Julia Rothman sneer at him coldly from further down the line._

_Suddenly, the man from the tunnel was yelling again and Alex knew what he was expected to do. He raised the gun and fired. He pulled the trigger so many times that he thought that it would never end. Then, he was done. All the people from the line were dead and he'd done it._

_Alex knew he'd done this and it was wrong and all the more repugnant because he was so young, but when he tried to put the gun down, he couldn't. Fearful, Alex tried to tell himself that this wasn't him; that violence and death were incomprehensible to him but it didn't work. The gun stayed in his hand and Alex knew that his self-deception was pointless. He looked up and then saw Alan Blunt watching him with an approving expression on his face. Alex was doing what he was meant to, what was inevitable…_

Alex shivered as he went over the dream in his head. This was worse then the other nightmares because at least in the others, he'd only seen faces and experienced a brief flash of realization that he'd killed them. Here, he'd willing and methodically assassinated all those who'd ever done him ill in their own mad quests. What was worse, when Alex hadn't been able to put the gun down, he'd known that it was his fate to be a killer, that it was pointless trying to pretend he was just a kid who'd made a few mistakes that had caused lethal accidents. It was an extremely disconcerting realization.

'_And that's the understatement of the year…'_

Trying to distract himself, he turned to face Erin. The blonde girl was watching him with an odd expression that Alex wasn't quite able to fathom.

"We're still in the car?" He asked.

Erin nodded and said something about an accident. Alex only half listened and muttered a 'great'. Apparently, he was not as subtle as he'd hoped because Erin scowled slightly.

"Are you alright, or do you just not feel like listening?"

Alex was surprised to find himself blushing.

"No, it's not like that at all!" He denied, "I'm just a little distracted…"

Erin narrowed her eyes and initiated a strictly focused observation that had Alex squirming.

"Nightmare?" Erin asked finally.

Puzzled as to how Erin had come to such a successful conclusion, Alex nodded mutely.

"Thought so," the blonde girl said sagely with a nod, "You looked strung out."

Alex raised a brow, sceptical as to how one could appear 'strung out' whilst sleeping. It seemed an odd concept to say the least.

"Really?" He replied, deciding that staring out the window would make it at least a little harder for Erin to read him like an open book.

For once, the blonde girl left well enough alone. She gave a single,

"Sorry." Then stayed silent for the remainder of the journey.

It left Alex wondering.

* * *

**Alas for this poor chappie! **


	42. Very Odd Behaviour

**Chapter 39, Very Odd Behaviour**

**Yeah I know...Bad me for not updating before now! Also, The stuff in languages other then English is NOT going to be translated 'coz it's something that's sorta meant to be revealed later on (except for the tiny bits in Thai, you can translate those to your hearts content lol!), so try to resist the urge to ask what they're saying, alright???**

**Enjoy the chappie, it's AWESOMELY LONG!!!**

* * *

Even though it was the middle of winter, Alex was enjoying wondering around London at night with Erin. The city was still busy as people travelled between work, home, shops and the numerous nightclubs and bars that dotted the area the teen walked through. 

'_It's like walking through a kaleidoscope,'_ Alex mused, feeling oddly poetic, _'the sights and sounds are constantly changing'_

Alex appreciated the freedom to wonder around as well. He hadn't expected it that was sure.

When they'd finally gotten through the traffic and back to the apartment, Alex hadn't been in the best of moods. For the last couple of weeks, he hadn't had any opportunity to relax. It was taking a toll on him, Alex had been snappish and Erin had responded in kind.

Yassen had put up with the arguing for less then five minutes before demanding that both of them shut up, keep civil and get out of the apartment until he felt like dealing with them again.

Alex and Erin had barely had time to grab the new mobile phones the Russian all but threw at them before the front door slammed shut behind them. After that, both of the teens had decided that they could get along, especially if it meant they were left to their own devices in the heart of the city.

"Do you want something to eat?"

Alex started and looked over at Erin. The blonde girl glanced between him and a fast food place that was doing good business due to the large group of teenagers that was clustered around.

"Food costs money." Alex pointed out dryly, "Unless you want to try and steal it from someone?"

Erin pretended to scowl.

"I have money."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thick wad of money. Alex raised a brow.

"That you do," He agreed, surprised, "Where'd you get all that?"

Erin smirked.

"My Father should be more careful where he leaves the cash."

Alex laughed.

"He probably left it where you could find it on purpose," He said good humouredly, "He doesn't strike me as the type who'd miss a few Euros anyway."

Erin nodded and led the way over to the fast food place.

"You've got that right, he's loaded! Nice cars, designer clothing and houses all over the world are barely the tip of the iceberg."

Alex had to laugh again.

"Hollywood got something right then."

Erin nodded, but didn't reply. They stepped into the fast food restaurant and made their way over to the counter. The other teenagers were still hanging around and Alex guessed from their rowdy and borderline drunken behaviour that they were going to be trouble. He guessed right.

"Oi sweetie," One of the guys called to Erin, "Why don't ya come hang out with us for a bit, ey?"

Erin scowled and Alex felt an intense surge of dislike for the leering boy.

"Fuck off!" Erin hissed, looking disgusted.

The boy looked taken aback and all the other guys guffawed whilst their girlfriends just sneered and simpered.

Losing face was obviously not an option for the youth though, because he quickly started in again.

"Come on, don't be such a snob," He growled, "Come and have a drink hot-stuff."

Erin looked furious and more then a little upset now and perhaps that was what prompted Alex to do something as dangerous as put his arm around her waist. Erin jumped and turned to stare at him with widened eyes and a startled expression. Swallowing dryly, Alex ignored her and turned to face the other boy.

"Leave her alone and piss off." He ordered, sounding impressively cold and determined. Alex's tone and expression said quite clearly that pushing the matter would be a very bad idea. The boy backed off, glaring furiously.

"Come on, we'll go somewhere else." Alex muttered to Erin, feeling very daring as he propelled her out through the front doors of the restaurant.

Once outside on the cold street, Erin squirmed free of Alex's grip and turned to face him.

"What the hell was that?" She demanded, still looking a little shocked.

Alex was surprised by how calm he felt.

"That was me putting my arm around you."

Erin pouted.

"I know that!" She growled, "But why did you do that?"

Alex shrugged.

"I wanted to. I'll stop if you don't want me to."

Erin seemed to be taken aback by that. She struggled silently for a minute before relaxing and shrugging as well.

"Well, I don't mind. Feel free to continue if you want to." She replied, doing her best to sound nonchalant.

Alex dipped his head, inwardly laughing hysterically at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"Alright, I will." He agreed, adopting a dignified tone.

"Good." Erin said.

"Yes, good." Alex nodded, putting his arm around Erin again. Then, the both of them glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"God you're a daft idiot." Erin giggled.

Alex pretended to be offended.

"Hey, I just saved you from being devoured by the pathetic morons back there. The least you could do is refrain from calling me names."

Erin suddenly looked very devious.

"Maybe those morons weren't so pathetic," She suggested sneakily, "Maybe I could better enjoy myself with them."

Alex frowned.

"Aw don't say that, I know you want to stay and hang out with me."

Erin raised a brow and thought about it.

"I dunno, you'd have to convince me." She mused out loud, sneaking a look at Alex's expression out of the corner of her eye.

Startled, Alex opened his mouth to ask what that was meant to mean. He was interrupted though by the sound of Erin's phone ringing.

Still giggling a little, Erin fished the phone from her pocket and answered it.

"Yup?"

There was a brief pause whilst she listened and then she scowled.

"Alright, we'll be back soon."

Then, she hung up and faced Alex.

"Yassen wants us back at the apartment?" He guessed, smiling wryly. The Russian's call couldn't really have come at a worse or better time.

"Yes," Erin sighed, "And I was just beginning to enjoy myself."

Alex looked at her oddly.

"You were enjoying making me squirm?"

Erin smirked, but Alex noticed the blush on her face.

"Yes," She agreed, "It's very endearing."

Swallowing, Alex conjured up a smile.

"Come on," He laughed, "We'd better go back. Heaven help us if we annoy your Father by being late."

As they walked, Alex thought,

'_Never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Yassen Gregorovich!'_

* * *

'_I still don't know what she meant.' _Alex thought, a little rueful as he knocked on the apartment's front door. _'And I'm not sure I can ask either…'_

Then, he banished all thoughts of Erin as Yassen opened the door. Stepping into the apartment, Alex noticed the Russian's stormy expression.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, slightly bewildered.

Yassen scowled.

"MI6 really know how to ruin a day." Was the Russian's cryptic answer.

Alex made a face, but didn't inquire further. That was partially due to the fact that the Russian looked annoyed still. Mostly though, it was the smell of food that distracted Alex.

Turning around, he saw the wok full of what looked like some sort of Thai curry.

"Yay, curry!" Was Erin's contribution. Yassen smiled briefly and nodded.

"Yes, curry. I'm pretty sure it's the first meal I've made in over a year for anyone other then myself."

Neither one of the teens said anything to that, but it stuck in Alex's mind. For the first time, he really wondered what Yassen's life was like outside of his job.

'_It must be lonely,'_ Alex mused as he served himself a bowl of curry. Erin passed him a pair of chopsticks and he took them absently, still thinking. '_Doing what he does. I wonder if there's an opportunity for hobbies or friends or even just doing something like watching TV.'_

Just then, a distraction came in the form of a piece of mushroom that bounced off his forehead.

"Huh?" Alex started, looking around. Erin was sitting opposite him at the dining table looking very innocent.

'_Yeah right, Erin innocent!'_

Narrowing his eyes, Alex picked up a piece of chicken and stuck in on his fork. He then bent the fork back and released. Erin yelped and went to duck, but the piece of chicken still hit her on the top of the head.

For the next half a minute or so, Alex and Erin were absorbed in their ferocious and mostly silent food fight. Alex managed to avoid being struck by another piece of mushroom, but at the cost of having a chopstick smacking him in the side of the face.

"You know, I'd actually prefer if you ate the food I cooked instead of throw it." Yassen remarked dryly, deftly reaching forward and catching the chopstick that Alex threw at Erin in retaliation.

Erin bit her bottom lip in embarrassment and promptly did as she was told, digging into the food with a not so refined sort of contentment.

Alex was not so energetic; he poked at the curry indecisively with his one remaining chopstick. Yassen noticed his hesitation and looked tempted to roll his eyes.

"It is okay to eat Alex." The Russian informed him, no small amount of sarcasm tinging his words.

Alex scowled suspiciously.

"As in 'okay to eat' like the soup in Poland, or normal people 'okay to eat'?" He asked cheekily, privately wondering whether or not he had a death wish.

"What do you think?" Yassen asked coolly, somehow managing to come off as intimidating and vaguely amused at the same time.

Alex pretended to think about it.

"Hmm," he mused out loud, "I dunno…It might be okay, but then again-"

"Just eat it." Yassen interrupted, a small smile causing the corners of his mouth to twitch. Without waiting for a reply for a response, the Russian left the room.

Alex shrugged and did as he was told. To his surprise the curry was tasty and not overly spicy.

"This is actually alright." He said, not sure how surprised to be.

"I know," Erin laughed, "Who would've thought that he could cook?"

"Mhm," Alex murmured, busy trying to shovel as much curry as humanely possible into his mouth.

As he swallowed (and chewed, to a lesser degree), Alex gathered the courage to ask Erin the question that had been bothering him.

"Look, do you hate me or not?" He asked abruptly, dropping his fork with a clatter and a frown.

Erin looked startled. She put her fork down, but much more carefully then Alex.

"Well, that was quite a random question, wasn't it?" She asked, looking politely puzzled.

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Just answer the question," He growled, "Do you hate me?"

Erin looked well and truly bewildered now.

"No! Why would I?!" She demanded, pushing her plate of food away.

Alex shrugged.

"I can't decide wether you really hate me or just…" He trailed off suddenly, realizing he was saying more then he'd meant to.

Erin immediately narrowed her eyes, meaning that she and Alex were squinting at each other.

"Or just what?" She asked suspiciously, saying each word very slowly and carefully.

Alex tried to shrug nonchalantly.

"Just nothing."

"You weren't going to say 'just nothing'."

"How would you know?" Alex asked snidely, fully aware of how childish he sounded.

Erin shot him a look packed with more sarcasm then Alex had ever seen.

"You sound like a five year old." She pointed out sniffily, looking a little hurt.

Alex bit his bottom lip, he felt bad; he hadn't meant to hurt Erin's feelings.

"Never mind," He muttered, "I'm going to watch TV."

Erin scowled, but didn't say anything as Alex dumped his plate in the sink and stalked over to the television.

* * *

It was an hour later that the real news came. Alex was sitting watching TV whilst Erin sat on the opposite end of the couch seemingly sleeping when Yassen appeared. 

Immediately, Alex switched off the TV.

"What is it?" He asked, suddenly aware of exactly how tired he was.

Yassen hesitated for a second.

"We need to go." The Russian said bluntly.

"Why? Do MI6 know we're here?" Erin asked suddenly, without opening her eyes. Not asleep then.

Yassen shook his head. Alex noticed that the Russian was watching Erin carefully.

"No, that's not what I meant. We need to go to Madrid."

Erin opened her eyes at that.

"Why do we need to go to Madrid?" She asked, sounding very edgy all of a sudden.

"That's where Liberty are," Yassen explained warily, "Hienler was never in Poland at all. Liberty's main cell was in Madrid all along."

"How long have you known that?" Erin asked, gritting her teeth. Alex was puzzled, he had no clue what was going on here.

"My suspicions were confirmed today when I went through the Intel we received from MI6." Yassen answered.

Erin clenched her fists and glared.

"After everything, you seriously think that…" For a second, she seemed speechless with anger. Then, she took a deep breath and started yelling.

"Нет! Не Мадрид! Вы серьезно думаете, что я могу возвратиться там после, что случилось? Никакой гребаный путь! Я не буду возвращаться там, я не могу полагать, что Вы делаете это! Не Мадрид!"

Alex had no idea what Erin was saying, but it was obviously nothing good because, Yassen quickly responded in kind.

"Это - достаточно Эрин, останавливать это прямо сейчас!" It was obviously an order,

'_Probably right up there with 'shut up'_, Alex thought grimly. The Russian was not yelling, but Erin closed her mouth straight away.

'_As you do when a ruthless assassin is glaring at you like he wants to crush your skull in using a hammer'._ Alex reflected, a little surprised by his oddly nonchalant thoughts.

"Теперь слушайте меня Эрин и слушайте близко, потому что это не кое-что, что я хочу повториться." Yassen growled at Erin.

Alex scowled, he didn't appreciate having no clue what was being said; it gave him an uncomfortable feeling.

'_Note to self, learn Russian at the next opportunity…'_

Erin didn't reply, she just gave a nod and stared mutinously at her Father.

"Теперь, когда я имею ваше внимание..." Yassen paused for a moment and glanced over at Alex. Alex shrugged and made as if to move off.

"I'll go." Alex said, not sure whether or not to be offended.

"No," Yassen shook his head, "There's no need. It's nothing that bad and besides, I do not believe you can speak Russian?"

Alex shook his head mutely.

"I'll have to do something about that…" Yassen muttered before turning back to Erin.

"Эрин, я знаю, что Мадрид - едва где-нибудь, Вы хотите пойти, я знаю это!" The Russian sighed.

Erin surprised Alex by replying in English.

"Then _why_?!" She asked, looking forlorn, "There has _got_ to be a different way to do this; a way that doesn't involve Madrid!"

Yassen shook his head, looking a little sad. Alex wondered why, the whole situation was bewildering and he could not for the life of him figure out what the problem was with Madrid. He'd visited the city once with Ian and enjoyed it. Why was there about the place that would drive Erin to detest the city so passionately?

"Erin, Liberty's operation is make-or-break for them; they're keeping everything in Madrid because that is where their headquarters are at present. Headquarters is the most protected facility they have." Yassen said slowly, measuring his words with evident caution.

Erin's anger was suddenly gone; she just looked miserable and defeated now.

"I don't want to go to Madrid," she whispered.

Yassen looked unusually sympathetic.

"I know," The Russian murmured, "Neither do I, and you know that."

Now Alex was even more confused.

'_What is it that makes both Erin and Yassen absolutely despise a whole city?!'_

Erin seemed to struggle for a second.

"But we still have to go." She said flatly. Alex noted the way it was a statement of understanding and not a question.

"It won't be for a couple of days, you'll need to get ready." Yassen answered, looking his daughter in the eye. Erin gave a curt nod and walked away.

Straight away, Alex turned to Yassen.

"Don't bother," The Russian said before Alex could even open his mouth, "Madrid is a long and personal story. Don't bother asking, you won't get an answer from me."

Alex shrugged; he could always ask Erin later.

"And don't ask Erin either if you value your wellbeing." Yassen said suddenly, obviously guessing Alex intentions.

Alex was a little annoyed, but didn't argue.

"Alright, but do I get to ask when we're leaving exactly?"

Yassen gave a quick, wry smile.

"Yes," The Russian replied, "We'll leave in a couple of days like I said."

"Okay," Alex agreed nonchalantly, "That's not so bad."

He turned to leave, but stopped when Yassen spoke again.

"It's not that simple Alex."

Alex slowly turned back to face the Russian.

"Why, what's wrong?" He asked, instinctively knowing this was not going to be anything good.

Yassen shook his head.

"We can't just leave the country; neither you nor Erin has passports or any sort of documentation and besides, MI6 will be keeping a watch out for us, especially after today."

Alex bit his bottom lip; everything the Russian said was true, they couldn't leave the country.

"Also, I'm not exactly welcome in Spain," Yassen said, "Not since about four years ago…"

Alex shook his head.

"I don't even want to know!" He sighed, "What are we going to do then?"

"We're going to need to contact MI6," Yassen said grimly, "And tell them that we won't do this unless they back off and make sure the authorities in Spain do the same."

Alex frowned.

"That's not so hard," He said, "Just call them now like I did before."

Yassen shook his head.

"This isn't the sort of call that takes a minute Alex," The Russian explained, "It'd be a call long enough to be traced so it needs to be scrambled so it's untraceable."

Alex saw a small problem with that plan.

"Didn't Erin try scrambling a call in Poland?" He pointed out, "And look what happened there!"

"Erin didn't really know what she was doing," Yassen countered, "And that phone was only safe for short distance calls, not international."

Alex gave a slow nod.

"Alright," He mused, "What do you need to equip a phone with the ability to make untraceable calls?"

"A lot." Yassen admitted, "And I have more important things to do then pick up wires and screws. You and Erin are going to have to take care of that whilst I attend to other matters."

"Okay, so we'll just run over to a Virgin shop or something," Alex yawned, "We'll be done in no time and it'll be a piece of cake."

Yassen laughed.

"Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple, you're going to have to visit a hardware store."

Alex shrugged.

"Alright, still no problem."

Yassen had stopped laughing, but there was a small smile still there.

"After hours and armed."

Alex frowned.

"Oh."

* * *

"So, where do you want to go?" 

Alex shrugged.

"Wherever is cheapest I guess." He answered with a yawn. It had taken him a long time to sleep last night.

When he'd walked into the bedroom he and Erin were sharing, he'd found Erin fast asleep. However, the puffiness of her eyes and the way the girl was curled up tightly suggested she'd fallen asleep crying. It bothered Alex.

Erin looked over at him and pouted.

"Come on Alex!" She sighed, "We've got a whole day just about to go shopping in London with _loads_ of money! We should go somewhere better then 'wherever is cheapest'!"

Alex smiled reluctantly; whatever last night had been like for her, Erin was certainly chipper this morning. He suspected it was an act though, every now and then, he'd see that glimmer of pain in the girl's eyes and the slight way she seemed to flinch slightly from time to time.

"Okay, why don't you choose then?" He suggested, "I don't really care that much about clothing to be honest."

Erin looked pleased by that idea.

"Alright!" She crowed, "Finally, a bit of fun!"

Alex smiled vaguely and followed Erin, occasionally nodding and muttering a non-committal reply to some question she asked. In reality though, Alex's thoughts were not on a morning's shopping. He was thinking about Jack.

She would've been upset that he was involved in all this, Alex knew that, but at the same time, she would've known that it was something he needed to do.

'_I wish I could just talk to her right now,' _Alex thought sadly, _'I'm sure she would've known what to do about Erin.'_

Alex couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of Erin. It was undeniable; he really liked her, no matter who or what she was. Even when she was being a cold-hearted bitch he still liked her.Alex wondered what Erin thought of him.

'_Because this is exactly the sort of thing I should be worrying about in a situation like this,' _Alex mentally reprimanded himself. He was on the run from MI6 and he was worrying about a girl!

'_Actually, that's fair enough;'_ Alex thought to himself, _'This whole 'on the run from the law' thing wouldn't be any fun without a girl! That must be how Bond manages to go through so much, because he gets a girl each movie!'_

Alex shook his head, the dry humour was diverting but hardly constructive. There were better ways to pass the time.

"…don't you think? Alex?"

Alex started and looked up. Erin was frowning at him, obviously realizing that his attention was elsewhere.

"Oh, yeah, I completely agree." Alex nodded, a little too energetically.

Erin's frown deepened.

"You weren't even listening Alex." She said with a sigh.

Alex shook his head.

"No! I was!"

Erin shrugged.

"Alright, what was I talking about?" She asked, sounding both tired and disappointed now.

"You were saying that London is one of the nicer cities in Europe, but personally, you preferred Moscow. Then you asked me my opinion." Alex said without hesitating.

Erin blinked.

"Oh, you were listening…"

Alex nodded.

"Of course I was!" He said bracingly, "It was interesting too."

Erin looked a little uncertain.

"You're just going too far now…" She said.

Alex shook his head.

"No, really! I was enjoying listening to you. Tell me why you like Moscow, is it because you've lived there or something?"

Erin shrugged.

"I did live there for a little while, but mostly I like it because it's a cool city to wander around in at night."

Alex looked sceptical at that.

"You're allowed to going wandering around a city by yourself in the middle of the night?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so," Alex said smugly. He looked up at the shop they'd stopped in front of.

"What is this place?" He asked suspiciously.

"It's an awesome store!" Erin declared, leading the way inside, "Has exactly what we'll need for this whole deal!"

"What, a cache of weaponry, superhuman reflexes and a truckload of dumb luck?"

Erin glared at him.

"Why are you being so pessimistic?" She asked annoyed, "Today might be the first half-decent day in a couple of weeks!"

"Doubt it." Alex grunted.

Erin narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me?"

"That line is an awful cliché you know." Alex remarked, avoiding the question.

"Just answer me Alex!" Erin sighed, looking a great deal like her Father for a moment as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"Well, we have a tiny little chore to do." Alex begun, "Quite tiny, but it's still a pain in the-"

"What is it?" Erin asked flatly.

"Well, apparently we need to break into a hardware store, whilst armed I might add, and steal whatever it is Yassen needs."

Erin looked like she wasn't sure whether to be upset or not.

"Oh, yes…Tiny chore…"

Alex decided that perhaps it would be best to move the conversation along. He held the shop's door open for Erin.

"Anyway, we have some shopping to do, don't we?"

Erin brightened at that. She walked through the door and Alex followed. The shop was not quite what he'd expected, the floor and walls were black and there were several full length mirrors around. A couple of strategically placed spotlights kept the place bright enough to walk around in, but still dark enough for the shop to have an air of mystery. There were only a few racks of clothing and even from where Alex was standing, he could see that the clothing sold here was very special.

"Erin," He began carefully, "What exactly is this place?"

Erin just smiled wolfishly. A woman appeared from behind a counter. She was petite and had Thai features.

"Ms. Gregorovich, lovely to see you again."

Erin smiled at the woman.

"Hello Meêt, good to see you too."

The woman named Meêt looked over at Alex. He could see speculation written all over the small woman's face.

"A friend Erin?"

Erin nodded.

"Yes, he's staying with me for awhile."

Meêt looked thoughtful.

"And where are you staying? Not on your own I hope."

Erin shook her head slowly.

"Not this time. My Father has chosen now to turn up again."

Alex noticed something flash through Meêt's eyes. It was almost like the expression of someone discovering a lost treasure. Alex wondered about it.

"Măy-ัน… He's here?"

Erin didn't miss the look in the Thai woman's expression either. She shot Meêt a look.

"Это было долгое время, Вы не слышали о ... смерти моей Матери? Он более холоден тогда когда-либо, я не потратил бы впустую никакой надежды."

Meêt made a face but obviously didn't want to push the matter. There was something pained in Erin's expression.

"To business then…What do you need Erin?"

Erin looked pleased.

"Alex and I don't have any clothing other then what we're wearing. We're going to be involved in some high risk stuff from here on, there's a possibility of combat situations."

Meêt gave a nod.

"Two sabotage sets then I think. I'll be sure to include some of the new toys we've developed. You're an English size 6 correct?"

Erin nodded and Meêt's brow furrowed.

"It's not my place to make personal comments," The Thai woman said, "But you really should put some weight on Erin."

Erin blushed.

"Easier said then done with my metabolism."

Meêt shrugged and turned to Alex.

"What about you?"

Alex shrugged, he hadn't grown an enormous amount in the last year. Meêt laughed.

"I'll figure it out." She declared, "Wait here whilst I get everything."

Waiting until the Thai woman was out of earshot, Alex turned to Erin.

"What _is _this place?" He asked, bewildered. Erin grinned.

"It's where I come to get equipment for any jobs. Meêt runs this place, when she's not on a job herself."

Alex was incredulous.

"A clothing store run by an assassin?!"

Erin pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Not quite a clothing shop… You wouldn't wear the items sold here whilst running down the road for toilet paper, that's for sure."

Alex just shook his head in disbelief. Meêt reappeared, smiling.

"Everything's in the change rooms. Go try it all on, just tell me if it does not fit correctly."

Looking like a child in a toyshop, Erin nodded.

"Thanks, we'll be quick."

The blonde girl dragged Alex forward to the change booths at the back of the room. She pointed to one on the right.

"That's yours."

Still a little uncertain, Alex walked in and locked the door behind him. There was an outfit hung up on the back of the door. Curious, Alex took a closer look.

There was a pair of combat trousers and a black turtle-necked jersey to go with it. It looked ordinary enough, but when Alex picked the jersey up, he realized it was thicker then it should be. There was an odd sort of texture about the jersey too. It was half familiar…

Then, Alex smiled. He knew what it reminded him of: the bullet-proof bicycle jersey that Smithers had given him. It seemed years ago now.

His attention well and truly captured, Alex tried the jersey on. It was a relief to peel off the shirt he'd been wearing ever since breaking out of the Royal and General. The Jersey fit perfectly and was very comfortable indeed. Alex noticed that there was something odd about the sleeves though; there was something hard that brushed against his arms.

Curious, Alex held his arm up for closer inspection. He realized that there was a metal ring stuck to the inside of the sleeves hems. There was a miniscule switch on each ring. Interested, Alex pressed it. He jumped as a thin blade suddenly jutted out of each ring.

Wary now, Alex delicately pushed the switch again and the blades retracted. He turned to the combat trousers. They seemed normal enough (as in, no suddenly extending blades), so he tried them on as well.

They fit just as well as the jersey did and Alex opened the booth's door and walked out. Erin was already waiting there for him.

"Wow," was the first thing that came out of Alex's mouth. Immediately, he blushed and shut his mouth quickly.

Erin looked a little embarrassed, but she deserved the compliment. Erin was also wearing combat trousers, but hers were much less baggy and black instead. It was the same story with the jersey. All in all, the outfit looked good on her. Alex wished that he could have been wearing these clothes when he'd been training in the Brecon Beacons, instead of the painfully ill-fitting outfit he'd been tormented with.

Meêt came hurrying up to them, smiling widely.

"Excellent!" The Thai woman declared, looking over the two of them approvingly, just step in front of the mirrors please!"

Alex found himself hurried over to the nearest full-length mirror. He hardly recognized the blonde boy in the mirror as him.

His reflection was a well built boy with too-long hair that just fell into his eyes. Alex experimentally pushed the hair out of his eyes, but Erin shook her head.

"It looks better that way, makes you look older." She told him.

Alex shrugged, he wasn't sure he wanted to look any older. He glanced back at his reflection and frowned, he'd known his eyes had always told the casual observer that he'd seen too much, but he realized that they'd acquired a hollow look, giving the rest of him a haunted appearance. Also, he looked a little gaunt, but that was because he hadn't really eaten properly in a couple of weeks. All in all, he presented a very different image to the Alex from before what he was presently calling 'The Poland incident'. He wasn't sure whether or not he approved.

Meêt nodded and glanced between Alex and Erin.

"Wonderful! You both look wonderful!" She beamed.

Erin shrugged.

"So long as they do their jobs," She said carelessly, "What features are included?"

Meêt looked positively delighted by the question.

"The tops are bullet-proof, climate-proof and have-"

"-Blades in the sleeves?" Alex finished for her. Meêt smiled wolfishly.

"Indeed," She agreed, "I have a passion for blades; they're my namesake as well."

Alex must have looked confused because Erin felt the need to explain.

"Blade," She said, "Meêt means blade!"

"Oh…" Alex glanced at Meêt, seeing the Thai woman in a new light. Suddenly, he didn't see a small, delicate woman, he saw a woman who would use her appearance to her advantage, being able to close in on her target and use her beloved blades before they could even comprehend her as a threat.

"What about the pants?" Erin asked, interrupting Alex thoughts. Meêt gave a nod.

"Ah yes, the pants. They're climate-proof as well, lightweight material that'll store heat even in sub-zero conditions but will breathe in the heat. They also have straps on the inside of the cuffs for storing knives or any other small weapon you care to name."

Alex was impressed.

"They weren't wrong when they said the fashion industry has a darker side." He remarked, running his fingers through his hair. He grimaced at the way it felt. Alex resolved to buy some toiletries on the way back to the apartment.

Erin laughed, but suddenly there was something grim about her expression. She turned to Meêt.

"We're going to need some other equipment too…"

Meêt nodded seriously and beckoned for them to follow. She led the way over to the front counter. She pulled a black leather suitcase and a small black, nylon knapsack out. She clicked open the briefcase.

Inside, nestled in memory gel packaging were two handguns. Alex wasn't familiar with model, they were black (he was realizing quickly that it was Meêt's favourite colour), sleek and lethal looking.

"What are these?" He asked, "They don't look like Glocks or anything like that."

Meêt shrugged.

"They're my own design, they're semi-automatic and lightweight. They're perfectly suited for a teenager's hands too!"

Alex glanced over at the smiling woman.

"How many teenagers do you get in here?!" He asked sharply.

Meêt grinned again.

"Only Erin usually, I enjoy designing things for her."

'_She and Smithers should meet sometime,'_ Alex thought suddenly, _'They'd have a ball thinking up crazy things to attach to everyday items.'_

Meêt suddenly glanced over at Erin.

"We need to talk about payment of course." The Thai woman said briskly, shutting the case with the guns in it with a snap. Erin shrugged.

"Sure," She agreed easily, "How much do we owe you for all of this?"

Meêt's eyes narrowed.

"Just like that?" She asked suspiciously, "You're going to pay just like that? What happened to your normal wheedling and haggling?"

Erin smiled widely and pulled a thick wad of cash from her pocket.

"I've actually got enough to pay you honestly this time, plus a little extra for whatever I owe you."

Meêt smiled.

"Trust me, it'd take a lot more then what you have to repay what you owe me," She laughed wryly, "Just pay me for today."

Erin looked delighted.

"Excellent, now how much do I owe you?"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, and a considerable amount of Euros lighter (Twelve thousand to be exact, but who was counting?), Alex and Erin stepped back out onto the main street carrying knapsacks that carried their purchases. It was a cold day and not many people were brave or motivated enough to go outside, so they pretty much had the path to themselves. 

Just then, Alex's phone rang. Only two people knew the number, and one of them was standing next to him, so Alex didn't bother with greetings.

"Let me guess, you need us to go now?" Alex asked.

"I'd say you're psychic, but it was hardly a surprising conclusion to come to." Yassen replied wryly, "Yes I do want you to go pick up everything now. It's getting late, so everything should be closing down. Call if there's any problems or if you finish before me."

Alex frowned.

"What are you doing?"

The teen could almost hear the wolfish smile in the Russian's words.

"I'm picking up some equipment that you and Erin would not have been able to acquire from Meêt."

Alex could imagine what sort of objects that would mean: explosive things and things that caused a considerable amount of bodily harm.

"How'd you know we were with Meêt?" He asked suspiciously, instinctively looking around for any sort of surveillance.

"I know Erin better then what she'll admit," was the Russian's cryptic reply, "Head over to the nearest hardware place now and try to make sure no one's following you; I still don't believe that MI6 will have given up this easily."

Alex frowned.

"That's the way to boost our confidence." He remarked.

"Confidence doesn't stop you from getting shot."

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine. We're going now. Work on the optimism thing whilst we're gone, okay?"

The line went dead in response.

Hanging up, he turned to Erin.

"We going now?" She asked, trying unsuccessfully to sound nonchalant.

Alex nodded grimly.

"Yeah, let's get going, I don't really want his to drag on."

Erin smiled wolfishly.

"Awesome. What did Mr. Optimistic want?"

Alex rolled his eyes again.

"He was going on about how we need to be careful not to be followed, blah blah blah."

Erin smiled slightly.

"Yeah, he stresses."

Alex snorted.

"He'd be dead by now if he didn't."

Erin wrinkled her nose.

"You two may just tie for the 'least uplifting presences' award you know."

Alex scowled.

"Let's just go."

Erin laughed.

"Alright, but on one condition."

Alex shrugged.

"What?"

Erin's smile slipped a little and she hesitated.

"What?!" Alex demanded, confused.

Erin suddenly smiled again and before Alex could react, slipped her hand into his.

"That." She said cheerfully, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

* * *

Handyman Jim's was one of those hardware stores that seemed to boast every single tool or item you'd need to build anything from a birdhouse to a small nuclear bomb. It was enormous as well, boasting a massive parking complex and a children's play area as well as a small café. 

"What fun." Erin muttered, looking disgruntled by the sheer size of the task ahead of them. Privately, Alex agreed with her sentiment, but he felt a responsibility to be the leader here.

"No use complaining," He reminded her, "It doesn't achieve anything. Now, do you have the list?"

Erin sighed dramatically and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Yassen had verbally listed everything he needed, but one look at Alex's expression had caused the Russian to shake his head and reconsider. The written list hadn't been much more enlightening, but Erin had taken a look and declared she knew what was written down there.

"Awesome," Alex nodded, trying to sound upbeat, "Well, I guess we'd better get ready then. Equipment check?"

Erin grinned and held her arms up, spinning around. She and Alex had changed into their new outfits in a McDonald's bathroom, hiding the guns beneath their jerseys. They'd then walked the 500 metre journey to the side alley by Handyman Jim's, where they were now, sheltering behind one of those giant dumpsters.

"Alright, you're good to go," Alex laughed, "Where's your gun?"

Part of Alex was surprised by how easily he referred to a lethal weapon that could be used this very night to blackmail or injure.

Erin's smile had a vicious edge to it now. She pulled the leg of her cargo pants up, revealing where it was strapped to her shin.

"Okay," Alex nodded, "Let's go."

The two of them stepped out of their cover and began to stride purposefully towards the delivery entrance.

* * *

Matthew McWilliams was delighted. He couldn't believe how kind fate was being to him, that his luck should change so drastically. Maybe there really was a god. Or maybe, the two kids were just not as good as they thought they were. 

Given the circumstances, anyone with an ounce of self-preservation in their situation should be holed up in an apartment somewhere hiding. Not walking into a hardware store after-hours looking like they owned the place. This, of course, was exactly what Alex and Erin were doing.

'Bad luck for them,' Matthew thought dispassionately. He quickly checked he was armed and wearing his Kevlar vest and then slipped through the night and followed the two teens into the shop.

"Alex…"

Alex glanced over at Erin.

"Yeah?"

"This place is giving me the creeps…"

Erin looked even paler then normal in the dim warehouse; it was almost like her skin was giving off a ghostly glow. Her eyes were huge and what little light there was gleamed there eerily. Alex shivered; it was easy to see what Erin meant.

"It's alright," He said, reaching for her hand, heart pounding, "We'll be done soon."

Erin stayed silent for a moment, staring into the darkness. Then, she sighed and straightened up, dropping Alex's hand.

"Alright," She said steadily, pulling out the list again, "You just get the basic stuff, bolts and the like. I know what the other stuff on the list looks like, so I should be done quickly. Meet back here in half an hour, okay?"

Alex made a face, but gave a nod. Erin smiled faintly and then, did something unexpected. She darted forward, tore the list in half, deposited one half in his pocket and pecked him on the cheek.

"Cheer up, everything's alright."

Then, she disappeared. Blinking, Alex stepped forward from the double doors and into the main part of the store. A vast, cement concrete decorated by a labyrinth of floor-to-roof shelving stared vacantly back at him.

'_How the fuck am I meant to find anything in here?!'_

He knew what he was looking for, but the store was massive, it could take him ages.

'_Ah well, journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step and all that bullshit…'_

Alex sighed, shook his head and walked briskly into the first aisle.

* * *

Erin was pretty cheerful. Maybe not skipping like a merry lamb happy, but fairly good tempered never the less. She was geared up; she had a simple task to keep her occupied and best of all… 

Well, the 'best of all' was rather childish. It'd been no more then a simple peck on the cheek, nothing to go all gaga eyed and delirious over. Yeah, nothing special, mind on the job. Erin resumed searching for all items on her list.

* * *

'_Last thing… Screwdrivers…'_

Head high, Erin strolled along the aisle she was in, occasionally stopping whenever something that looked like it might be on the list caught her eye.

Then, something got her attention. Her footsteps across the cool, cement ground sounded odd. She stopped, head cocked. There was no sound so she started again. The shelf ahead had a display of screwdrivers, so she grabbed one as she passed, happy that she'd gotten everything on her half of the list.

_Tap tap tap tap…_ She slowed down, frowning.

_Tap, tap, tap…_

Then, when she couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong, she stopped altogether.

_Tap…_

Everything was silent, she realized how loud her breathing was, so she breathed through her mouth to keep the noise down. Still nothing. She shrugged (somewhere her brain registered what a typical cliché that was) and kept walking.

_Tap tap tap tap tap…_

She stopped very quickly.

_Ta-tap…_

Someone was following her, mirroring her footsteps. Beads of icy sweat broke out all over her. Erin was strong and brave, but this was different. It was cat and mouse suddenly and she didn't like it. A growing sense of horror enveloped her. For a minute, Erin wanted to call out for Alex. Then, a thought struck her.

'_They might not know exactly where I am, they might just be using my footsteps to track me… If I call out, they'll be able to find me easier…'_

Inwardly screaming, Erin slowly closed her mouth. She took a quiet breath and shakily looked around her.

* * *

'_Sim card and a magnet…Sim card and a magnet… Why the fuck does a hardware store sell mobile phones and their accessories anyway?!'_

Alex wondered idly, dragging his fingers through his hair. Despite having had a shower the previous night, his hair was still dirty and stuck together in thick strands. It seemed that as organized as Yassen had been in buying the apartment, he'd never thought of keeping it stocked with soap and shampoo.

His thoughts were disrupted when something caught his attention. Something felt wrong. Instincts screaming, Alex looked around. Dark shelving and nothing more. He couldn't hear anything either, but he just knew that something was amiss. It was the same sense that sometimes lets you know without doubt that someone is not quite right or that they're lying.

Alex stood stock still, listening as hard as he could and staring into the dark. The warehouse was stuffy and the cold air seemed to press at him mercilessly. His breaths were clouds of condensation that dissolved after breaking into delicately curling tendrils. Everything was quiet, everything was still. Nothing was wrong-

Somewhere in the warehouse, there was a crash and a clatter as something seemingly fell from a shelf. Without hesitating, Alex took of running.

* * *

Erin was doing her best not to make a sound when there was a crash. She jumped and had to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle the yelp. A paint can rolled into sigh at the end of the aisle and she nearly lost it there and then, whoever was stalking her was closer. She couldn't stay where she was anymore. 

Erin ran to the opposite end of the aisle, difficultly swallowing the panic. At the end of the aisle, she stopped and warily peered first to the right and then to the left. There was no one and she relaxed a little. She glanced over her shoulder…

Erin screamed her head off, more from shock then actual fear. Her stalker was a redheaded man who stood before her, bared teeth gleaming in the dark. There was a large, ugly knife as well, it's serrated edge purposeful.

Erin backed up in horror, no longer screaming. She was giving strangled sort of gasps instead, shaking all over. The man smiled, an ugly leer that spread over his stubbly face. He advanced slowly.

* * *

Alex was just beginning to lose his bearings when there was a scream. It was one of pure, unadulterated terror. Alex looked up sharply in it's direction. It could only be Erin. Panic clenched over his heart and his chest felt tight. 

"Erin!" He yelled, "Erin for God's sake keep it up!"

He forgot that he was tired and in all honesty, rather ill though the adrenalin had kept that mostly under control. Something or someone was threatening Erin. Suddenly, that was enough to defeat all his inner obstacles. Funny that.

* * *

Erin was taken by surprise when the man lunged at her, knife scything upwards in a deadly arc. She jumped back in fear, feet tangling. She tried feebly for a kick that would knock the knife away and hit the man in the chest, but she wasn't fast enough. The man dodge aside and before she knew it, had his hand twisted in her hair, yanking her head back. 

Erin thought she'd been scared before. It was nothing compared to now though. Her mind just froze, not even panic was controlling her now. It was just the last vestiges of strength and animal self-preservation.

Erin screeched again, and went wild. She jerked her head back, loosening the man's grip. She then twisted so that the arm gripping her was exposed. She didn't hesitate; she sunk her teeth into his lean, hairless arm. She bit him so hard that she drew blood and Erin backed off spitting crimson. The man howled like a dog, but he wasn't severely injured, he was stronger then that.

He let go of Erin and whilst she was still trying to get rid of all the blood in her mouth slammed his forearm into her face. Blood smeared all over her features and she was knocked right off her feet.

Erin thumped to the ground hard, breath knocked out of her. She felt desperate and frustrated. She should have been able to fight back properly if not beat him, she should have been stronger, faster, braver. She should have been a lot of things, but there'd never been any chance of it. For the last couple of weeks, Erin had been running her body on emergency mode and now she was paying the price: shutdown.

Anger trickled into being, it wasn't fair! It was not fucking fair that this should be how she died: whimpering pathetically on the ground whilst some second rate MI6 agent prepared to gut her like a pig! No scratch that…Life wasn't bloody fair, it was spiteful and she was sick of it.

Erin was close to exhaustion and was bruised, but she hauled herself to her feet. Standing where she was, swaying and sick she smiled. It was a bitter, twisted expression, one that should never have been seen on a child's face, but it was there never the less. Matthew paused (of course that's who the man was).

"Go on then," Erin muttered, closing her eyes briefly as stars blinked into life, "Go do whatever, go your hardest. I'm weak, look at me; I'm fucked no matter what so go on then…"

Matthew took another step forward and paused. Tiny flickers of uncertainty crossed his face and he took another step forward. It was then everything went nuts.

There was a dull thud and a yelp. Matthew stumbled, head jerking forwards. A gash opened up over his right temple and bizarrely, a four litre can of paint in 'watermelon green' crashed to the ground, splitting open and spilling everyone.

Erin stared bewildered as Matthew lurched forward onto his knees. Then, she understood as Alex was revealed standing behind the redheaded man. He'd seen what was happening from further down the aisle and done the only thing he could to slow Matthew down: throw the paint. He'd then closed the distance with lethal speed and kicked the man's legs out from underneath him. The knife clattered to the ground and was promptly kicked under a shelf.

"Fucking brat!" Matthew groaned, scrabbling for his gun. He froze when the gun's barrel touched his forehead gently.

Erin stood in front of him, panting roughly. Tremors racked her lithe form and Alex thought he could see tears in the corners of her eyes. In any case, he knew she wasn't stable.

"Don't move or I swear to God-"

"-You'll blow my brains out?" Matthew finished for her, making the words come out mockingly, "Very original, you should publish that!"

Erin narrowed her eyes.

"Publish this dipshit!" She snarled, kicking him in the groin. Matthew promptly sprawled to the ground, holding himself and groaning.

"You little bitch…"

Matthew was promptly kicked again, but this time in the face and by Alex (as a fellow guy he felt a tiny stab of sympathy for Matthew, Erin's kick had been hard and well aimed).

"You better watch your fucking mouth or we'll find more creative and more painful places to put the bullet." He said coldly, drawing his own gun. To his surprise (and slight dismay), the weapon felt perfect in his hands, like a natural extension.

Matthew propped himself up on his elbows and glared at Erin.

"I fucking hope they roast Arial alive for this!" He spat.

Instantly, it was like a switch had been thrown. Erin lashed out fast as a snake, foot crashing into Matthew's chin. He collapsed back to the ground and before he could react, Erin had one hand around his throat and was pressing the gun brutally into his throat.

"What did you say?" She whispered, wild rage flickering like flames in her eyes, "What the fuck did you say asshole?"

Alex knew then that Erin was out of control right now. He took a step forward, placing a hand on Erin's shoulder.

"Erin, what are-"

Erin rounded on him, teeth bared. To Alex's shock, the gun was now level with his head.

"Erin…" He trailed off weakly, very much afraid.

"Don't!" Erin hissed, "This is my business, not yours!"

She turned back to Matthew. Alex could see the fear, well and truly alive now, in the MI6 agent's eyes. There was anger there too though.

"Answer me!" Erin half howled.

Matthew painfully pulled himself onto his knees.

"You heard me," He taunted quietly; "I said I hope they roast Arial."

Erin froze eyes huge and breath coming out in shallow, rapid-fire bursts.

"No…" She whispered, "No, you're wrong, she'd dead and gone…"

Matthew smiled sadistically, and Alex felt an intense hatred for the man.

"Oh no," He shook his head, in a mocking voice, "Oh dear God no! Arial's well and truly alive and she's been suffering for every little thing that you and your Father have been doing-"

"Shut up!" Erin cried, tears running down her face. She backhanded Matthew viciously, "_Just shut the fuck up_!"

Matthew sneered.

"They'll probably put her through interrogation just for that alone, but I might suggest something worse…"

Erin stumbled back and for a moment, Alex thought that the girl was finished. Then, Erin's expression changed and she did something terrible; faster then Alex could track, she raised her gun and before he could react, Matthew was dead, one bullet in his brain, another in his chest. The man was dead before he hit the ground.

For a second, Alex could only stare horrified as the gunshots faded away. Erin stood rigidly, staring at the body with her arm still raised. Her gaze was cold, dispassionate and truly terrifying. It was that gave Alex the ability to react.

"Erin!" He shouted, "Oh fuck no…"

Erin looked over at Alex.

"Oh hi Alex," She muttered, voice suddenly faint, "Sorry you had to see that…

And then she passed out.

* * *

**I figured we were due for a nice bit of action -smug smile-**

**Anyway, don't desapir if you are DYING to understand this chapter (who Arial is, what relevance she has to the story etc...) Coz I already have the next chappie which explains everything written up on paper, I'll just have to copy it to Microsoft Word! **

**Anywho, love you all my wonderific (wonderul and terrific combined, aren't I cool:D) readers, R 'n' R for me darlings!**

**TTFN from vampassassin**


	43. Your daughter is insane

**Chapter 40, 'Your daughter is insane'**

'_I swear to God that as soon as she returns to planet Earth I'm gonna kick Erin's ass…'_

This was probably an unkind thought given that Erin was in a very poor state, but then, if you'd been half carrying half dragging her through London in the middle of the night for over half an hour, you'd probably expect a few nastier thoughts to pop up.

Alex was tired (well, more then tired, he really wasn't too far from shutting down like Erin) and he was feeling like crap. He had a sore throat and his chest was killing him and yet he was stuck supporting Erin who all of a sudden seemed to weigh a ton.

Erin suddenly gave a start and opened her eyes blearily.

"Wha? Really…tired…Owww…"

Alex raised a brow.

"Uh-huh…Try for a _coherent_ sentence next time, alright?"

"Asshole…" Erin muttered, shutting her eyes again. Funnily enough, her swearing capabilities were completely intact.

Alex decided then that he was through carrying her. He promptly let go of her and winced as she straight away fell over. Erin's eyes shot open.

"Jesus!" She yelped, "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Alex kept his face expressionless.

"I'm not carrying you anymore. You're awake so you can walk."

Erin pouted and Alex cringed when he saw tears build up in her eyes.

"I'm really tired though," She whined, "And I'm so sore! I don't want to walk!"

She sniffled and Alex had to look away, lest he give in.

"I know, but I can't carry you. I'm hurting too and besides, you weigh a ton!"

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Erin's expression suddenly went cold.

"So now you're calling me fat?" She asked dangerously.

Alex's eyes opened, he knew that hell hath no fury like a girl who thinks she's been called fat.

"No! Of c-course not!" He stuttered, "You're not fat, you're completely skinny and-"

Things quickly worsened. Erin's eyes narrowed and she managed to pull herself up from the ground.

"So now you think I'm anorexic and therefor a stupid moron?"

Alex felt like bashing his head against a wall.

"For God's sake no! You know what? Let's just keep going."

Erin shook her head and suddenly, she looked wretched.

"No," She pouted, "I don't want to! You can't make me!"

Alex raised a brow.

"Really?"

* * *

"Owww! Stop that!"

"Well, keep moving then!"

"But- OWWW, YOU BASTARD!"

Alex gave a weary sigh. He'd been bullying Erin through the city for two hours now, whacking her over the head with his backpack every time she stopped. It was effective, but the constant whining was starting to wear on Alex. Erin was getting nastier and nastier, he suspected she was beginning to brood on what had happened in the warehouse.

Suddenly, Alex caught sight of a blinking light.

_'Open 24 hours!'_

It was one of those corner shops that sells all the very basic items you need to exist on a daily basis. Alex was suddenly taken by an idea. He turned to Erin. She was ashen and glared at him.

"I'm going in there for a second," He said slowly, "I need some money, okay?"

Erin nodded sullenly and pulled a couple of notes out from her pocket. Alex took them and gazed at her sternly.

"I'll only be a minute. Stay here!"

Erin just sat down and turned away. Alex gave another sigh, feeling exhausted. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Yassen was starting to grown concerned when Alex and Erin didn't return and neither of them answered their phones. The Russian was just pulling on a coat and heading out when there was a faint knock on the door.

For a moment, Yassen just regarded the door coolly, wondering what sort of risk answering it presented. Then, he heard a voice, faint but familiar through the wood. It was Alex.

"Open the door you prick!"

'_Polite as ever…'_

With a sigh, Yassen slid back the locks on the door and opened it. A very odd sight greeted him.

Alex stood looking exhausted, one hand pushing at an even worse looking Erin (Yassen felt a slight stab of concern for his daughter) whilst bizarrely, he clutched a flimsy plastic containing soap and shampoo. He held it so tightly; it was like a shipwreck survivor grasping at flotsam that keeps him above the water.

"Alex," Erin half moaned, half whimpered, "Can I sit down now?"

Alex managed to work up a smile.

"Yeah, you can."

Erin nodded blearily and stumbled forward. Yassen darted forward and managed to catch her before she fell.

"Утомленный... Так, столь утомленный..." Erin sighed, sinking to her knees. Yassen crouched besides her.

"I know," Yassen said gently, "Take a shower and then come get a coffee, alright?"

Erin nodded weakly.

"Okay…" She murmured. Yassen helped her to her feet.

"Alex has the soap." She said, sounding more then a little delirious. Alex passed the bag over wordlessly. Erin took the bag and without another word, stumbled towards the shower. Alex walked over to the TV without a word to Yassen, leaving the Russian to wonder if both the teens were cracking up.

* * *

It wasn't until later that evening that Alex gathered up the courage to ask Erin about what had happened at Handyman Jim's.

He was watching TV with the volume on low when Erin appeared. She didn't say anything, she went straight to the kitchen where she focused intently on getting a cup of coffee made.

Alex then decided that he deserved to know what had happened in the warehouse. After all, he'd carried her sorry ass through the city, nearly killing his back in the process. He definitely deserved answers.

He padded silently up to her, standing patiently behind Erin whilst she finished with her cup of coffee. Erin turned only to almost run right into Alex. She didn't look startled to see him there.

"You're in my way." She said blandly, sounding almost like a pre-recorded message.

Alex dove straight in.

"Who's Arial?"

To his amazement, Erin just pushed past him and walked across the kitchen to get a coaster for the mug of coffee.

"Hey!" Alex frowned, grabbing her by the shoulder, "Don't just-"

He stopped. Erin had thrown the cup of coffee down on the floor and was suddenly holding a knife (Some small part of Alex's brain was lucid enough to ask where the hell she'd gotten that from). Three guesses where it was pointing.

"Erin…"

"No," She said savagely, "No just shut up and listen, I'm only going to say this once, okay?! You do not _ever_ mention that name!"

Alex glared at her.

"Why not?"

Erin's eyes were distant as she replied.

"There are some things that are just too much pain!" She snarled, "And I can't take more pain alright? I already go through too much; I can't take any more of it! So if you know what's good for you, don't say it!"

Alex gave into the urge to do something childish.

"Arial."

Erin froze, eyes glittering.

"You don't want to-"

"Arial," Alex said again blithely, "And I really don't think you'll do anything either-"

That was when Erin dove at him, slamming him into the oven painfully. The oven door's handle pressed into Alex's back agonisingly.

"Don't do this Alex," Erin hissed, one hand pointing stiffly at him, other hand gripping the knife so tightly her knuckles were snow-white.

Alex glared at her.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want, so I'm going to ask who Arial is. If you won't tell me, I can always ask your Father…"

Alex barely had time to register the shocked expression on Erin's face before the world flipped and he hit the ground. The impact with the polished wood caused the back of Alex's head to hit hard, he bit into his tongue and stars danced around him dizzyingly. Blood filled his mouth and he tried to spit it out.

Before he could though, Erin was pulling him to his feet by his throat. The whole room lurched drunkenly and only Erin's grip and his own willpower kept him on his feet.

"Stop!" Alex choked, "Erin, stop it…"

Erin looked beyond reasoning though, her fingers tightened around Alex's throat and the hand holding the knife rose. The sharp metal edge was against his throat, he froze.

Alex was scared, but he couldn't fight back, he just didn't have the heart to attack Erin, or any woman for that matter. Besides, he didn't think she'd really hurt him. Hopefully.

The knife had lightly penetrated his skin, a narrow line of blood trickled down his neck.

"Erin," Alex pleaded, "Erin please, you're really hurting me. I'm sorry; I didn't realize that it was that sensitive a subject, alright? Just put the knife down…"

For a second, indecision flickered through Erin's eyes and the knife's pressure lessened a notch.

"You didn't did you?" She mused, "I guess you didn't mean it…"

Alex nodded, eager to clear the dangerous waters.

"Exactly, but I know better know, I know it's nothing at all-"

Immediately Erin's eyes became regretful and Alex knew he'd made a bad mistake by saying 'it's nothing at all', it was obviously everything to Erin. The knife was there again and the sharp edge was paining him. He could feel it cutting him, deeper and deeper…

"Эрин! Остановитесь!"

Erin jumped back as if stung. Looking around, Alex saw Yassen standing across the room. There was a phone in one hand. The Russian's expression was pure ice and Erin quickly dropped the knife and looked away.

"Убегите от Алекса теперь. Приедьте сюда и объясните мне что, черт возьми, Вы делали!" Yassen snapped, glaring at his daughter. Erin shot Alex one last resentful glance before stalking over to her Father.

Alex had expected a shouting match, but he was surprised when Erin spit out an avalanche of flat, quiet Russian that seemed to be some sort of explanation of what had happened earlier on that day. Alex heard the name 'Arial' mentioned and he saw the tiniest flash of horror pass through Yassen's eyes. It was gone quickly though and so was Erin once Yassen snapped what was obviously a dismissal at her.

Still stunned by his impact with the floor, Alex could only shake his head weakly at what had happened.

Looking grim, Yassen walked over.

"Are you alright?"

Alex nodded with a wince.

"Yes… My head hurts though."

Yassen sighed and pulled a first aid kit from one of the kitchen cupboards. The Russian produced aspirin and the kind of bandages that stick on. Alex raised a brow at the bandages.

"Look down." Yassen sighed.

Alex started; the top of his shirt was going red-black from blood. The cut that Erin had made with the knife was deeper then he'd realized, leaking profusely from a short, straight line just above his collarbone.

"Congratulations, your daughter is insane!" Alex muttered, accepting both the aspirin and bandages from Yassen.

"Not that I'm not willing to rule that put as a genuine possibility," Yassen agreed wryly, "But I am not at all surprised by the way she reacted. You crossed some invisible lines by bringing that name up, it's a topic that neither Erin nor I broach by unspoken agreement."

Alex was still curious though, he'd seen the reaction that the Russian had given when Erin had explained what had happened.

"It's something that's bad for you too though, the MI6 agent mentioned you as well as Erin…"

Yassen shot Alex a sharp look.

"Erin doesn't want you to know, it's a lot of pain."

Alex glared back stubbornly.

"But it's obviously not just about her, it's about you too and it's a secret that I nearly got my head bashed in trying to uncover! I want to know what the hell is going on here! Why did the MI6 agent say that what you did affected the fate of this Arial as well?! Who the hell is Arial for that matter?"

Yassen shook his head slowly.

"You are asking questions that you don't have any right to ask," The Russian said quietly, in a dangerous voice, "I'd suggest you stop now, and I won't have to resort to less pleasant methods of ensuring your silence on this matter. Understand me?"

For a second, Alex just stood with a stubborn scowl on his face. Then, the teen looked away and shook his head.

"Fine," He muttered bad temperedly.

Although he didn't show it, Yassen was greatly relieved. The Russian turned to turn the electric kettle back on, he needed a coffee.

"Want a coffee Alex?" The Russian asked out loud. There was no reply. "Alex?"

Turning back around, Yassen saw the teen frozen, bottle of aspirin in one hand. There was an expression of realization and shock on his face.

"Alex…"

Alex started and shook his head as if to shake away the shock. He turned to face Yassen and then the Russian knew that Alex had discovered the missing piece to the puzzle that was Arial and Erin's behaviour.

"You loved her," Alex said wonderingly, "You loved her and…"

Here, the teen paused as if not sure of his own reasoning. Then, he swallowed dryly and looked up and met Yassen's gaze evenly.

"And she's Erin's mother!"

* * *

**Ah-ha! Who guessed it?! Who saw it coming?! WHO'S GOING TO REVIEW IT?!**

**You are of course -smug smile-**

**okay, questions for consideration...**

**1) Who's interested in Arial's and Yassen's story? I've been writing it for awhile now, but I probably won't publish it unless there's some reader interest**

**2) What song does this chapter make you think of? What song does the entire story make you think of so far? I ask only because I'm organizing soundtracks to read my fanfics and stories to :D**

**3) Should Erin be really pissed off when she finds out that Alex knows about Arial, or she should she just be relieved because the secret of it was a burden?**

**Anyway, love you all, my wonderful little crumpets!!! **

**TTFN**


	44. Preparations and Alex Oblivious Rider

**Chapter 41, The Weird, the Preparation and the Oblivious**

**I'm sorry number**

**1) for the ABSURDELY long gap between updates, I've been so busy it's not funny...**

**2)For the poor quality of this chapter. Next will be better, I promise!**

**The only good thing I can say about this chapter is that Alex and Erin's relationship is finally set in stone, nice and clear. Alex is so cute when he's embarassed :D**

**Disclaimer: Mwoo haha,I think not baby puppy **

* * *

There was an extremely awkward moment where Alex and Yassen just stared at each other. Finally, when Alex thought he'd have to do something to end the tension, Yassen stirred, shaking his head slowly.

"You are nothing if not fond of guesswork." The Russian said slowly, obviously still trying to hedge. Alex glared at him.

"I'm not wrong though am I?" Alex demanded, "Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong!"

Yassen muttered something indistinct and in Russian under his breath. Alex crossed his arms across his chest angrily.

"What was that?!"

Yassen looked up sharply, eyes narrowed and dangerous.

"I said you're not wrong!" The Russian snapped, "And I suggest you don't talk down to me Alex! I've gone through too much shit to be patronized by a damned fifteen year old!"

Alex ignored the threat though; the sheer enormity of what he'd discovered hit him.

"Holy…!" Alex gaped, "You loved this woman…"

"Always the tone of surprise," Yassen sighed, "Anyone would think I'm a heartless monster."

Alex was still ignoring the Russian though.

"And she's…she's…Erin's Mother?!" He shook his head, "Fucking weird…"

Yassen looked half offended, half amused.

"Well, Erin had to have come from somewhere," The Russian pointed out dryly; "I didn't just come across her in a pet shop and decided to attach the label 'Erin' and bring her home."

Alex finally absorbed something that Yassen said.

"No, the idea of Erin having a Mother isn't odd," He said, "It's the idea of you having a wife or whatever…"

Yassen must not have looked impressed, because Alex quickly forged on, aware of the hole he was digging himself.

"I mean, she would have to be an unusual woman…" He trailed off, trying to gauge Yassen's reaction. The Russian suddenly looked despondent and Alex felt like he'd said something wrong.

"I suppose you could have called Arial unusual…" Yassen muttered, more to himself then out loud. Alex picked up on the past tense.

"W-what happened to her?" Alex asked warily, uncertain how the Russian would take the question. Yassen looked up and for the first time, Alex saw a real person in there, not an expressionless blank. There was anguish in the depths and Alex felt indecent witnessing it, like he should turn away.

"What happened?" Yassen repeated slowly, "My fault… She was taken and killed."

Alex started to ask why it was the Russian's fault, but then something Matthew had said came to mind.

'…_Arial's well and truly alive and she's been suffering for every little thing that you and your Father have been doing…'_

"Yassen," Alex started slowly, "The MI6 agent said that Arial isn't-"

The Russian cut in, shaking his as if to ward off the rest of the sentence.

"Alex listen to me, her death was…" Yassen trailed off for a moment, considering his words very carefully, "Was terrible, more terrible then anything I've ever gone through, _but I coped with it_. I reached a _closure_, and so did Erin, bringing this up now will ruin that for her, alright? I watched what happened to Erin after her Mother's death, and it wasn't a good thing to witness. If you make her go through that again…"

Yassen didn't need to finish, Alex knew that if he disobeyed this order, the Russian would find a way to make him pay dearly. On the other hand though, Alex felt in his gut that what Matthew had said was true. It was just one more problem to deal with.

"I'm glad you and Erin escaped injury though," Yassen said, obviously referring to the warehouse, changing the subject abruptly. "You managed to get everything I needed as well, an excellent piece of luck."

The Russian brandished the phone he'd been carrying. Alex noticed that there was what looked like a circuit board soldered on near the base and the very tip of a strand of wire protruding from the top of the receptor.

"When are you going to call them?" Alex asked, pushing Arial, his sore chest and everything else from mind. Yassen shrugged.

"No time like the present."

"Of course not…" Alex sighed wearily, "I guess I'm making the call?"

Yassen laughed humourlessly.

"Last time I checked, they liked you better."

Alex took the phone.

"You're sure that this can't be traced?"

Yassen just gave him a flat stare.

"Alright, alright," Alex muttered, demon dialling the number, "Just asking."

Yassen nodded.

"Make sure it's on speaker phone."

* * *

There was none of the awkwardness of the last call; Alex knew exactly what he was going to say this time.

"Mrs Jones?"

"Alex! We wondered when we'd hear from you again." The MI6 woman was trying to sound friendly, but Alex was seeing Jack's death over and over again in his mind. He felt a black fury churn in his gut.

"Don't bother with that crap," He growled, "I'm not putting up with it. I'm just calling to say that whatever it is that you need, we'll do it."

"Alex, you don't know how good-"

"But," Alex interrupted, "We do it our way, understand? You let us out of the country and make sure that we're not bothered in Spain either."

Mrs. Jones' voice was cold.

"I don't know if I have the authority to ensure that your conditions are met."

"Then we don't have a deal, do we?" Alex asked pleasantly, "Goodbye Mrs. Jones."

Then, just before Alex pressed end call, Mrs. Jones gave in.

"No no, wait! Alex, are you there?!"

Alex smiled grimly at Yassen and put the phone back to his ear.

"I'm sorry, have you changed your mind then?" Alex asked, still sounding polite. "I hope so for a lot of people's sakes."

Mrs. Jones sounded angry, but the woman knew she was backed into a corner.

"Alright!" She cried, "You win, you do whatever it takes! There won't be any MI6 or any other interference. We won't tell our counterparts in Spain that you're coming, so provided you keep a low profile, you shouldn't be bothered there either."

Alex's smile was genuine this time.

"Excellent, you're making the right decision here."

Mrs. Jones wasn't through though.

"There's a catch though," she said warily, "a necessary one."

Alex frowned at the phone.

"Necessary?" He repeated dangerously, "I don't take catches into consideration if the deal is going to work…"

Mrs. Jones sounded a little desperate.

"No, it's strictly necessary! You and Erin don't have passports or visas do you?"

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"How would you know that?" He asked suspiciously.

"Both of you left your documentation in Poland. We seized them and never gave them back."

Alex cursed under his breath. They could get new passports, but that would take a lot of time. Even if Yassen got them fake documentation, it would still be a time consuming process.

"So what are you trying to offer here?" Alex asked wearily.

"We can arrange for someone to meet you and return-"

"Absolutely not." Alex cut in, "No meetings, I don't particularly feel like being doublecrossed."

Mrs. Jones voice was layered in fake offence.

"Doublecrossed?" She repeated, sounding politely puzzled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alex's expression was icy as he spoke into the phone.

"Tell me Mrs. Jones," He said slowly, "Have you found Matthew McWilliams yet?"

There was a pause as Mrs. Jones considered what her reply would be.

"You know his name? How?"

Alex glanced at the small, laminated card on a nearby counter.

"We took his driver's licence from his body."

Mrs. Jones seemed momentarily stunned.

"His…"

"-Body, that's right," Alex finished for her, "Consider it a warning against messing around with us. It's the first and final warning."

There was another pause and when Mrs. Jones spoke again, she sounded sad. It was almost believable. Almost, but not quite. Her words were too measured, too rehearsed.

"Alex, this isn't you! I know you felt like you had to stop Yassen from being harmed in Poland, but he's a dangerous man! Staying with him has turned you-"

"-Into exactly what staying with MI6 would have done. It's just a faster process, and I have the added bonus of having someone who actually cares whether I live or die taking care of me."

"On your own head may that be." Mrs. Jones hissed, "We'll leave you and Erin's passports at the airport for you to fly to Madrid in three days."

The line went dead as Mrs. Jones hung up and Alex did likewise, shaking his head and feeling tired as he put the phone down.

Yassen was watching him closely and Alex was too tired to take the scrutiny with any sort of grace.

"What?" He demanded.

Yassen shook his head slowly, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm not much better then MI6 really." The Russian said, sounding almost angry. Alex bit his bottom lip; he realized that Yassen had taken what he'd said to Mrs. Jones the wrong way.

"I didn't mean that you were doing the same thing as MI6," Alex sighed wearily, wishing he could just take a shower and then sleep, "Because you're not, I've had every chance to say no to all of this, it was my choice to stay. If it had of been MI6, I wouldn't have had that choice. I still have to do things that I never would have wanted to though. That's what I meant when I said that I was turning into the exact same thing as what I would've if I'd stayed with MI6."

Yassen seemed to think about what Alex said.

"I'd like to be able to say that you don't have to do things you don't want to, that you don't have to do things that Erin or I do, but I don't think that's a viable option anymore." The Russian said, almost regretfully, "It's gotten to the point where it's kill or be killed. I need to know whether or not you can cope with that?"

Alex didn't hesitate in replying, he'd known the answer for awhile now. It was a painful answer, but the truthful one never the less.

"I won't take any joy in it, and I won't be immune to it the way you are, but if I have to kill someone…" Alex paused and seemed to draw on some deep buried strength, "But if I have to kill, I'll do it. I won't choke or freeze up, I'll do it."

Yassen gave a slow nod.

"That should be enough. Go have a shower and then get some sleep, the next couple of days are going to be busy."

Alex smiled thankfully and half limped away. Yassen watched him go, deep in thought.

'_Immune…He thinks I'm immune?'_

* * *

Alex was exhausted; he didn't know how he managed to get the shower on without either burning or freezing himself.

As it was, he was sure that the warm, soothing water was going to lull him to sleep. Only the thought of how embarrassing it would be if someone had to come wake him up in the _shower_ prevented him from simply dozing off.

Yawning widely (and then spluttering like a turkey in the rain when his mouth filled with water), Alex managed to wash himself before stumbling out of the shower. Five minutes later, warmly dressed, he walked into the bedroom he was sleeping in.

Erin was sitting cross legged on one of the beds. She looked up from the book she was reading and raised a brow when Alex collapsed wearily on the twin bed next to hers.

"You didn't knock." Erin said good humouredly, "How rude."

Alex rolled onto his side and stared at the blonde girl.

"We're over our little freak-out then?"

Erin scowled.

"I was right up until then." She growled, "I have to talk to you about that."

Alex buried his face in his pillow. It masked the sound of his groan.

"Can't the important, meaningful conversations wait until I've had at least 10 hours sleep?"

Erin looked annoyed.

"No, because chances are I won't remember or I'll be too nervous." She said with an air of stretching patience, "I'll be quick, alright?"

Alex managed to sit up; although his aching body did it's best to protest.

"Alright, shoot."

Erin bit her bottom lip, and then begun.

"Look, I know I acted like a complete and utter-"

"-Maniac who probably is a danger to all that is sane?" Alex finished. Erin glared at him.

"I was going to say bitch actually." Erin muttered, "But I suppose you're right too."

Alex looked smug and Erin crossed her arms across her chest.

"Can I finish please?" She asked frostily. Alex grinned.

"By all means, continue," He said pleasantly, "This is actually quite a breakthrough for you."

Erin struggled against the urge to hit Alex for a minute. Then, she took a deep breath in and went on.

"The thing is, you stumbled on something that I'd been hiding for a long time-"

"-Your Mother?" Alex cut in. Erin shot him a look, obviously irritated at being interrupted.

"Yes," She said warily, "How'd you know? Did Father tell you?"

Alex shrugged.

"He wasn't going to, but I figured it out. To be honest, it was sort of obvious. I'm just embarrassed I didn't figure it out before."

Erin nodded grimly.

"Well, the thing is, I don't like people knowing because it's hard for me, alright?" She paused and Alex felt bad for her. "Talking about her doesn't bring her back, and it just hurts to know that and still hear people mentioning her anyway. That's why I was so angry, because I was coping fine and then Matthew brought it up and then you started asking questions…"

Alex felt awkward.

"Sorry, if I had of known…" He trailed off, not quite sure how to finish. Erin shrugged.

"Well, that's just it, you didn't know." She said reasonably, "So that made my behaviour all the more repugnant. I was well and truly pissed off at you when I had absolutely no right to be. I'm truly sorry for that, I can't believe I actually went after you like that."

Alex smiled faintly.

"You're not half bad when you're concentrating on being nice," He said teasingly, "And I accept your apology. As for your little stunt with the knife...Well, I'm not bleeding to death right now, so I figure that's forgivable as well."

Erin looked a little embarrassed.

"Thanks."

Alex suddenly had a thought.

"Are you still pissed off at me?" He asked lightly, "Because if you are, I might just start carrying a taser for protection or maybe a baton-"

The rest of his words were cut off by the pillow that Erin sent flying at him.

"No I'm not pissed off anymore, just relieved," She laughed, "And that's not funny about self-protection! I'm not that bad…"

Alex stared flatly at her.

"You know what?" Erin muttered, "I'm suddenly very tired."

Alex smirked as Erin turned over onto her side. He flicked the lamp off.

Then, there was a voice in the dark.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Can I have my pillow back?"

* * *

Alex wasn't sure what woke him the next morning. The clock read 9am, so he figured it was habit that caused him to wake up despite his resolution to sleep in as late as possible.

Not one to lie in bed wasting time, Alex rolled out of bed and shambled into the main area of the apartment, yawning and wondering how much coffee it was going to take to get him feeling like he was able to function properly.

What he didn't expect was to walk maybe five steps into the living room and then have something heavy suddenly fly at him. Instinctively, Alex reached out to catch it. He managed to grab it from the air successfully, but the agony that suddenly flared into life in his chest when the strain of the object registered caused him to drop it promptly. It crashed to the wooden floor loudly.

Feeling almost winded, Alex slumped against the wall rubbing his chest and breathing in and out weakly.

Yassen stood in front of him, shaking his head.

"Of course, it would _have_ to be your idea to throw things at me when I'm barely awake." Alex muttered, wincing at how much just that sentence cost him.

"I warned you that I was going to potentially put you through PT." Yassen said reasonably, picking up what he'd thrown at Alex. It turned out to be a small dumbbell, probably from a set of free weights.

"Yes, but that hurt, a lot!" Alex growled, "And you could have waited until I'd at least managed to wake up properly."

Yassen didn't look bothered by Alex's annoyance.

"Things are going to be hard from here on," The Russian said calmly, "It's going to be very dangerous and I need to know what sort of shape you're in. That just tested your reflexes and how effective what little PT you had was."

Interested in spite of himself, Alex stood up properly.

"And?"

Yassen shrugged.

"Your reflexes are fine, but I expected that. You don't survive madmen, the Chinese Triads and Scorpia if your reflexes aren't up to the challenge. It's your reaction once you'd caught the weight that bothered me, you said it caused you pain?"

Alex nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, my chest suddenly hurt badly. It was like I was just out of surgery again; it was too much strain to hold onto the weight."

Yassen thought about it for a minute.

"You're not really that badly off, I'd say that your near exhaustion was the main culprit."

Alex guessed that made sense.

"It isn't always this bad."

"After an injury of that magnitude, I'd say that you need to take even better care of yourself then normal; regular exercise and a lot less stress. You've gotten the exercise, I've no doubt about that, but from what I know, you haven't had the chance to relax, have you?"

Alex laughed shortly.

"Between being shot at and struggling to pass all my classes? Not really."

Yassen looked thoughtful.

"Well, I can't do much, but I can suggest that you set yourself a set of stretches and exercises for each day. Beyond that, I'd just suggest that you don't push yourself past what you think you can handle; there's always a chance of relapse with these sorts of injuries."

Alex noticed Erin smirking at him from behind Yassen's back. The Russian followed Alex's line of sight and caught sight of his daughter.

"You're next."

Erin's face fell; she had always been uncomfortable with people's attention on her.

"I've been feeling fine." She insisted, "Absolutely fine!"

Yassen wasn't convinced.

"Are you wearing anything underneath that jacket?"

Erin nodded sullenly.

"A tank top."

Yassen nodded.

"Take your jacket off, I want to see what your wound is like."

Erin did so, wincing.

MI6 had attended to her efficiently whilst she and Alex had been captured by them, but it still wasn't pretty.

The actual wound was covered by gauze, but Alex could see what looked like the worst bruising he'd ever seen extending from beneath the edges of the gauze. Yassen looked pensive.

"I presume it still hurts," He said, "I'm going to have a closer look."

Alex watched with a detached sort of interest that bordered on faint nausea as Yassen gently peeled the gauze back. Erin winced and let a slight hiss escape through clenched teeth.

The bullet hole was very round and smaller then Alex expected. However, the bruising became darker and redder was it came to closer to the wound. Alex couldn't help but cringe slightly at the raw, tender look to the flesh inside the bullet hole itself.

"Well, it's not infected," Yassen told Erin, "But it's going to be very painful for awhile longer."

Erin looked somewhat relieved.

"I've seen what happens when a bullet wound gets infected," she explained to Alex as Yassen replaced the gauze over the wound, "I was sick I think."

Yassen snorted.

"You think?" He repeated, "You refused to eat for two days straight."

Alex raised a brow and glanced at Erin.

"You're not prone to overreacting at all then?"

Erin wrinkled her nose.

"I couldn't help it, every time I even looked at food, my stomach felt horrible."

Alex gave a noncommittal sort of grunt in response and tried to push the sight of the wound from mind.

"We're leaving in three days Erin," Yassen said. The Russian sounded like he was trying to gauge his daughter's reaction.

Erin didn't look particularly happy, but she hid it fairly well in a quick shrug. Alex noticed the tightness in her eyes.

"Ok, what's happening with the passports?" She asked.

Yassen looked up from where he was watching the news.

"Alex?"

"They're being left for us at the airport; Mrs. Jones and I had a little chat." Alex explained distractedly, trying to find the coffee.

"In the plastic tub by the toaster," Yassen told him, somehow answering Alex's unspoken question, "And there's a spoon in the tub already."

Alex nodded his thanks and upon discovering the tub, spooned at least four spoonfuls of the coffee into his mug.

"What happens when we go to Madrid?" Erin asked, breaking the sudden silence that had enveloped the apartment.

"We deal with Liberty." Yassen replied, sounding distant. He was watching a story that seemed to be about the American president being accused of corruption.

"As simple as that?" Erin didn't sound impressed.

"As simple as that." Yassen agreed dryly, "Do you really think I have every single thing planned out at this stage?"

Erin shrugged.

"It'd be nice to know you have something planned."

"Like not getting killed the instant we land in Spain." Alex chimed in, drinking his coffee with more gusto then what was strictly required.

Yassen sighed.

"We check ourselves into a hotel where an acquaintance of mine is staying. They give us new identities because Liberty all but controls Madrid at present, they'll find us straight away if we go by our real names. Once we're disguised, we'll do a recon of the Liberty HQ and decide on a further course of action from there. Are you satisfied now?"

Alex considered it for a moment.

"Alright," he said, "But I have a few questions."

Yassen laughed shortly.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Firstly, who's your contact?" Alex asked, "Liberty didn't turn out to be trustworthy, so how do you know that this guy is?"

"_She_," Yassen said pointedly, "Is extremely reliable. I'd trust her with my life. I trusted her with Erin's for a couple of years."

Erin perked up suddenly.

"We're going to see Claudia?" She asked excitedly.

Yassen nodded and Alex noticed a small smile hidden in his expression.

"Yes, I thought you might like to see her again. Besides, she's in Madrid at the moment on an assignment. She told me she'd be finished by tomorrow at the very latest and would have no problem meeting with us."

"Who's Claudia?" Alex asked, feeling like his questions were piling into a mountain he'd never get through.

"Claudia is an old friend of mine who took care of Erin for about two years." Yassen said, sounding slightly stiff, like it was a matter that he was treading carefully around. Alex could hear the catch in the Russian's voice that suggested that Yassen was editing the full story to why Erin went and lived with Claudia in the first place. "I think that Erin much preferred living with Claudia then me."

Erin nodded happily in a teasing manner.

"Oh yes, with Claudia there was no curfew, no chores-"

"Because Claudia's house-staff did everything for you." Yassen muttered sourly, obviously not impressed.

"-No rules!" Erin reminisced, ignoring the interruption, "You wouldn't believe the things I did when I lived with Claudia!"

Yassen laughed dryly.

"I think I would believe it. Why'd you and Ricardo break up?"

Erin froze.

"How do you know about my ex-boyfr….?" She stopped suddenly, biting off the end of the word. Erin glanced at Alex for a second before her attention zoomed in on her Father.

"You kept tabs on me?!" She gaped, "No!"

Yassen nodded blithely, obviously enjoying his daughter's horrified disbelief.

"Yes," He nodded, "I did. I'm your father; I wasn't going to pretend you didn't exist."

Erin looked devastated.

"The drag racing holidays?"

"One of the competitors who beat you was a Scorpia contact of mine."

Erin tried again.

"The Mexico City turf wars I fought in?"

"Knew about them too Erin."

"The drunken bonfire parties in the Copper Canyon Region where I got stoned beyond belief?" Erin implored.

Yassen's face went cold.

"The _what_?" He demanded through suddenly clenched teeth.

Erin quickly shook her head.

"Nothing." She seemed a little satisfied by the fact there was at least one thing she had secret from Yassen.

Yassen seemed either too furious to reply or just indifferent.

Alex stood rooted to where he stood, mouth open in shock. Erin glanced at him.

"Oh come on Alex," She laughed, "You can't seriously think I'd be a goodie two shoes who's idea of fun is a nature documentary?"

Alex shook his head.

"Not that…the other part."

Erin looked blank.

"What other part?" Then, her expression cleared only to make way for a pale, pink blush. "Oh," She groaned, "Ricardo?"

Yassen laughed wryly and shook his head.

"This is one conversation I do _not_ need to be involved in," He said in amusement, "I'm going to have another word with Claudia."

Waiting until Yassen was out of earshot, Alex rounded on Erin.

"Who's Ricardo?!" He demanded.

Erin glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Why are you asking?"

Alex backed off quickly, coughing awkwardly.

"No reason," he muttered, trying to ignore the stab of jealousy he felt, "Just asking."

Erin smirked.

"Like hell you are. You're jealous because of my ex-boyfriend!"

Alex only just bit back a childish 'am not'.

"No, I'm not," He said slowly, "I was just asking."

Erin's expression became serious and oddly uncertain at the same time.

"Alex, please don't lie, you are jealous."

Alex half shrugged and swallowed dryly.

"Okay, maybe I am a little. Can you blame me?" Alex was surprised by how hard the words were. He'd faced down homicidal maniacs, dodged bullets and saved the world and he couldn't even say what he really wanted to a girl his own age!

Erin fidgeted awkwardly.

"It depends," She said nervously, "On what your…interest in me is."

Alex inwardly groaned, Erin was going to extract the truth from him, bit by gut wrenching bit. He figured getting it out all at once might be best.

"Alright," he sighed, "I get it. Erin, at the risk of either sounding clichéd or getting slapped by you, I want to be your boyfriend. Does that work for you?"

Erin raised a brow in quizzical amusement.

"Yes?"

Alex released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank God," He said, "I couldn't have gone through that again."

Erin laughed.

"You know," she said, half giggling, "You were already my boyfriend."

Alex felt like throttling her.

"I was…?" He struggled to find the words, "Oh."

Erin grinned evilly and leaned forward to kiss Alex.

"For a teenage spy, you're surprisingly oblivious."

Alex blinked in surprise and managed to kiss Erin back.

"I am?"

Erin nodded sagely.

"You should have guessed from earlier on. If you weren't my boyfriend, I would have cracked your ribs for putting your arm around me and going all possessive in front of those idiots at the takeout place."

Alex wasn't sure what to say to that. Erin laughed again at his expression.

"Alex Oblivious Rider." She cackled.

Alex winced a little. He really hoped he didn't live up to the nickname in Madrid, when the stakes were slightly higher.

* * *

**Wince I know, I know. Crapola. Still, the next chappie will have their trip to Madrid and the meeting with Claudia. **

**1)Trust me, there is NO romance involving Claudia and any of the main characters. As you'll see Claudia is not what you call the 'relationship' type. That said, should Claudia have a place in the story, or should she appear briefly before being forgotten?**

**2)K Unit are about to added to the mix. What would you like to see from our favourite SAS unit? Specifics according to each individual (What you want from Snake, what you want from Wolf etc.).**

**3)If you're interested in creating Alex and Erin's false identites (that they'll be using in Madrid), give me some details and I'll see what I can do :)**

**Anyway, love, hugs, and sometimes drugs, thanks for reading!**

**TTFN from vampassassin**


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